Detroit Metro Airport operations are back to normal as of Saturday morning Jan. 24 after a car drove into an entrance of the McNamara Terminal on Friday evening, Jan. 23, according to the Wayne County Airport Authority.
The crash took place about 7:30 p.m. Friday and the vehicle hit a Delta Air Lines ticket counter, the Wayne County Airport Authority said in a statement.
The driver was taken into custody, officials said. Six people were also treated by the authority’s fire department.
Here’s what to know about the situation.
What happened at DTW’s McNamara Terminal?
A car drove into the entrance of the McNamara Terminal and hit a ticket counter, according to WCAA.
Videos circulating online show a Mercedes driving into the airport and a man in a Detroit Lions jersey being taken into custody.
Work crews will still cleaning the area around the broken entrance around 10:15 p.m. Friday evening.
What caused the crash?
The investigation of the situation is ongoing. The suspect is still in custody and charges have not been determined, WCAA’s Director of Communications and External Affairs Matt Morawski told the Free Press on Saturday morning.
Are flights affected?
As of Saturday morning, airport operations have returned to normal, Morawski said.
The door and ticket counter that were hit are boarded up, Morawski said. Other doors and ticket counters in the McNamara Terminal are still available.
Detroit Metro Airport’s online flight status tracker shows Delta flights, which fly out of McNamara Terminal, have been departing and arriving Saturday morning.
Witness hears loud noise
Michele Wheaton, 54, of Pontiac, said she’d just flown back in from a trip to Puerto Rico with loved ones on Friday evening when the crash happened.
She was on her way to the arrivals area to be picked up when she heard a loud bang with sounds of metal and glass, she said.
“I stopped and looked around like, ‘Did anyone hear this?’” she said. “’Cause you heard the loud crash and then you just heard people screaming.”
Wheaton saw apparent security officers running, she said. One yelled, saying a car had crashed into the Delta area and asking if anyone had called 911.
Her luggage already in hand, Wheaton booked it out of the building and to her ride, she said. She told her mom to drive away.
Though specifics of the incident have not been released, Wheaton expressed sorrow at the events of the evening and dangerous incidents that take place in public gathering spots.
“It’s so sad that you can’t travel, that you can’t go to the movies or your churches or your grocery stores,” she said.
Contact Natalie Davies at ndavies@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DTW operations back to normal after car drives into McNamara Terminal
Reporting by Darcie Moran and Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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