Airports

HOUSTON -- When the annual National Rifle Assn. convention opened Friday, the day after an incident in which a gunman died at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, attendees didn't shy away from discussing the incident. In fact, it was a hot topic of conversation as visitors arrived--many of them traveling through the airport hours after the shooting that left the gunman, identified as a local man, dead . "They go to those places because they're gun-free zones," said Tilman Hollifield, 63, of Terre Haute, Ind., said of assailants like the airport gunman.

A man shot himself at Bush Intercontinental Airport in north Houston early Thursday afternoon, the Houston Police Department said. The unidentified armed man approached a ticket counter in Terminal B,  where he shot himself, inflicting “life-threatening injuries,” Houston Police Department spokesman John Cannon told the Los Angeles Times. Police are investigating unconfirmed reports that the man exchanged shots with an air marshal before turning a gun on himself, Canon said in a telephone interview.

Most of Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport was open to travelers Thursday except for one terminal that remained closed as officials investigated a shooting that left a gunman seriously wounded. Police and other officers were still at the scene trying to sort through the events that began about 1:30 p.m., John Cannon, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, said by telephone. A lone gunman was taken to a hospital with “life-threatening injuries,” he said. Dale Howard, who told reporters that he was at the airport to pick up his sister for a family funeral, said he was on the lower level of the terminal when the incident began.

A county report released Monday added fuel to the debate over whether the operator of Los Angeles International Airport is adequately trying to spread the growth of commercial flights to other airports in the area. Requested by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in February, the study reviewed the efforts of Los Angeles World Airports to regionalize air traffic, a key requirement of a 2006 court settlement that ended a legal challenge to modernization plans at LAX. "I'm somewhat disappointed.

One pilot died after two small planes collided Monday afternoon over Ventura County, sending one plummeting into a mountainside and forcing the other to land on a golf course. Both planes were Cessna single-engine aircraft. At least one had departed from Santa Monica Airport before crashing about 2 p.m. in the Santa Monica Mountains, according to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration. The other, which had three people on board, belly landed at the Westlake Golf Course.

Photographer Jeffrey Milstein has been fascinated with aviation and flying since he was a young boy building toy models. At 15 he would sweep hangar floors at the Santa Monica Airport on Sunday mornings in exchange for flying lessons. He passed his pilot's exam at 17. He remembers his father taking him to the end of the runway at Los Angeles International Airport to watch the planes land. "In those days it was DC3s and DC6s. There were no jets yet," said Milstein from his home in Woodstock, N.Y. "I loved standing right under them as they flew over my head.

On-time performance of airlines at the nation's biggest airports dropped 9 percentage points Monday after hundreds of air traffic controllers were furloughed by budget cuts. East Coast airports felt most of the pain, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Staff shortages at air traffic towers were expected to cause more delays Tuesday in Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas. "Travelers can expect to see a wide range of delays that will change throughout the day depending on staffing and weather-related issues," the agency said in a statement.

On the fourth day of sequester cuts to the ranks of air traffic controllers, airports across the country continue to be hard hit by delays caused by a shortage of controllers -- and severe weather. The Federal Aviation Administration, which began Sunday to furlough about 10% of its air traffic controllers, warned that staff shortages will mean delays at airports in Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Tampa.   Quiz: Test your knowledge about airport security Jennifer Fogg, a construction contractor from Oklahoma City, was fuming Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport after her morning flight for a business meeting in Mississippi was canceled.

Any bar, the gym, that new art gallery opening, your best friend's wedding. These are all places proven to put you in cupid's line of sight. But what about using your airport layover as a place to meet your next hookup? The dating site MeetAtTheAirport.com surveyed 80,000 members and rated LAX as the No. 1 West Coast airport for romantic hookups. Yes, there is a dating site devoted to helping you find your soul mate, or at least a one-night-stand, at the airport. The Encounter, the psychedelic, dome-shaped bar at the center of the LAX theme building, helped the airport earn its No. 1 hookup rating.

Law enforcement authorities are beefing up security across Southern California in the wake of Monday's explosions at the Boston Marathon. At Los Angeles International Airport officials are increasing checkpoints at entrances and where crowds gather. More bomb-sniffing dogs will be on patrol inside and outside the airport. The Los Angeles Police Department is increasing security at Dodger games. Orange County officials plan more patrols at sporting and entertainment events. PHOTOS: Explosions at Boston Marathon   Two explosions rocked the finish line area of the Boston Marathon, killing two people and injuring dozens, according to the city's police Twitter account.