Passengers

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport set a record for June traffic this year as 2,085,293 commercial passengers passed through the airport that month, according to the Maryland Aviation Administration. That total represents an 8.9 percent increase over June 2009. It was the second-busiest month ever at BWI, falling just short of the record set in August 2001 — the month before 9/11 sent the airline industry into a prolonged slump. More than half of BWI's June passengers — 1,111,896 — flew on Southwest Airlines, which tallied a 14.9 percent increase over the previous year.

A Southwest flight carrying 115 passengers from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to BWI Airport was diverted to Nashville International Airport due to a passenger's "suspicious behavior," an airline spokesman said. Flight 1307 was scheduled to leave the Albuquerque airport at 8:55 a.m. Saturday to BWI but was diverted due to a passenger's actions, said Chris Mainz, a Southwest spokesman. He said the passenger "caused some concern" and the plane was diverted as "an abundance of caution.

Airline passengers have been willing to put up with an awful lot in recent years. Squished-in seating, roulette wheel pricing, delayed or lost baggage, protracted security screening based on the latest terrorists' crackpot scheme - all were tolerated because to get someplace far away fast, there is no alternative to flying. But holding passengers hostage aboard planes stranded on tarmacs for as long as 10 hours - as though they were just so much cargo - exposed a level of insensitivity to human needs that cannot be excused.

A bill to ban the Maryland Transit Administration's practice of recording conversations on its buses has been filed by two state senators. James Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat, and Allan Kittleman, a Republican representing Howard and Carroll counties, want the MTA to stop installing microphones and deactivate units in use by Oct. 1. "I have spoken to the MTA, and I have a philosophical difference with them," said Brochin. "What I discuss on the bus is nobody's business but my own. " Agency spokesman Terry Owens said the recordings give police additional assistance to investigate incidents and are not being used for surveillance.

Police stopped a truck near a reputed open-air drug market Saturday night and arrested one of the passengers on drug charges, authorities said.Police said a green 1994 Ford truck with two men and a woman inside stopped at the corner of Pioneer Drive and Pioneer Court about 8:30 p.m. One of four men standing on the corner approached the truck, police said.After a short time, the truck pulled away, police said. Officer Frederick Plitt followed the truck to Pioneer Drive and Jacobs Road. There, he checked the passengers and searched the truck.

Passenger and freight tallies at Baltimore-Washington International Airport continued to set records last year, airport officials said this week.In 1997, the number of passengers using BWI rose to nearly 14.1 million, a 4.9 percent increase over the almost 13.5 million in 1996. Air cargo shot up 28 percent, climbing to nearly 354 million pounds and doubling the gains of the previous year.More than 13.4 million of the BWI passengers were domestic travelers, with discount fares drawing customers from as far as Southern Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia.

A three-dimensional plexiglass apparatus might be a passenger's first clue that USAir is doing things a little differently these days at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.As part of its new Project High Ground to move passengers and planes more quickly, USAir is cracking down on travelers who violate rules about carry-on luggage.Travelers laden with art objects, portfolios, pinatas, overstuffed garment bags, musical instruments and carefully wrapped baby gifts are being required to slip those items into a baggage sizer, located on Pier D between Gates 15 and 18. Oversized items get checked as baggage.

WASHINGTON - Responding to criticism from the Sept. 11 commission, the government's aviation security chief outlined a plan yesterday to begin screening airline passengers for bombs hidden under clothing. But a senior lawmaker said the Bush administration was moving too slowly to close a widely acknowledged loophole: Although bags and shoes are checked for traces of explosives, people are not. A suicide bomber wearing a device that contained small amounts of metal - or carrying disassembled parts of a bomb - could get past security.

FERNDALE -- Two passengers suffered smoke inhalation in an electrical fire aboard a Central Light Rail Line car during yesterday's evening rush hour, a Mass Transit Administration spokesman said.The spokesman, said the southbound train, heading for the Ferndale station, was nearing Broadview Boulevard about 4: 45 p.m. when passengers reported flames, smoke and sparks in one of the cars. The train, which carried 60 to 80 passengers, stopped, and firefighters quickly extinguished the fire.Pub Date: 3/20/97

A Maryland Rail Commuter service train at Union Station in Washington was struck by a MARC locomotive yesterday morning, injuring a dozen passengers. Twelve passengers were evaluated by emergency medical crews, and seven were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, said Alan Etter, spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire Department. Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said passengers on MARC Penn Line Train 419 were disembarking on the upper level when the train was struck by the locomotive about 10 a.m. She said the MARC train and locomotive, while owned by the Maryland Transit Administration, were operated by Amtrak crews.