In this episode of Seconds from Disaster, the boyfriend of one of the passengers managed to get from the observation deck in the airport to the runway dodging incoming and outgoing planes. Thought this was rather strange. Did they not have security points at airports in 1979? Can anyone shed any light?
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First of all, I think they might've "stretched" the truth for dramatic effect. HOWEVER ...
In the early 80's, at the airport near where I live, there was an observation deck so close to the tarmac that you could sometimes feel the jet engine blasts when planes were leaving the terminal. There was a railing around it, but there was also a set of steps labeled "employees only" that looked like it would take you directly to the runway. There was no locked gate, no anything. Who knows what kind of security measures there were at the bottom of those stairs, but I doubt they were very stringent.
If I saw a plane crash with my loved ones on board, in a panic I may very well have run down those stairs to get there.