Just In: Security Scare Causes Lockdown At Newark Airport

1
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

newark-airport9:34 p.m. EST: A terminal at the Newark, New Jersey, airport is closed this evening after a man walked through the wrong side of a checkpoint exit, the Transportation Security Administration is saying.

Police are seeking the individual, who walked from the public side to the sterile side, said TSA spokeswoman Anne Davis. No flights were allowed to leave from Terminal C this  evening, she said.

Authorities are reviewing video from airport cameras. They are not sure whether the man was once on the sterile side and went back, or if he never went through screening, Davis said.

Other travelers who had reached the sterile area after going through checkpoints are being moved back to the public area to be re-screened, she said.

The incident has caused arrival delays and mainly affected Continental Airlines, which is the airport’s largest tenant.The TSA says an individual went through the exit lane inside Terminal C, bypassing security, at about 5:30 p.m.

It’s possible that the individual simply got confused walking through the terminal and went the wrong way, but since the TSA cant verify that he had been screened, authorities need to find him. Terminal C has been evacuated.

Flights have been held at the terminal, and officials are looking at surveillance footage. Port Authority police are assisting in the search, and passengers have been asked to come back to be screened again.

Continental spokeswoman Susannah Thurston says it’s an airport security issue not involving the Houston-based airline.

The security breach comes a week after a December 25 bomb plan was thwarted.

Newark Liberty International Airport, which is located about 15 miles from Manhattan, is the second-largest hub for Continental.

The airport handles roughly 35 million passengers a year.

{CNN/AP/WCBS-NY/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply to Shmuel Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here