FLYING BY JFK’S SECURITY
TSA snafu lets 11 pass unscreened
The TSA left a security lane unattended at JFK Airport’s JetBlue terminal Monday morning — and 11 people were able to waltz right through, including three who set off alarms, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
It took Transportation Security Administration agents about two hours to alert the Port Authority Police Department of the major breach, and by then, the passengers were in the wind.
The security lapse occurred at around 6 a.m., when TSA agents in Terminal 5 opened a screening lane without immediately assigning agents to staff it, sources said.
“The screening lane was unmanned, but passengers didn’t know, so they started going through it,” a source said.
Three travelers set off alarms as they walked through the metal detector — but no one stopped them, the sources said.
When the agents realized what had happened, they grabbed images of the passengers from security footage and scoured the terminal for them.
After the search ended in fail- ure, a TSA supervisor alerted the PAPD, which then flooded the terminal with its own cops. But by then, it was too late. “The biggest problem is TSA took two hours to notify the Port Authority,” a source said.
The PAPD eventually identified the three who set off alarms and traced them to JetBlue Flight 15, bound for San Francisco, sources said. They were screened upon arrival.
Images of two men who set off the alarm were released by a source. They are not suspected of any wrongdoing.
The TSA said it’s reviewing the security breach.
“Early reports indicate three passengers did not receive required secondary screening after alarming the walk through metal detector,” the TSA said.
“All personal carry-on bags received required screening. A K9 team was present at the checkpoint at the time of the incident.”
The oversight made some travelers at Terminal 5 nervous.
“I’m definitely uneasy,” said Brianna Guzman, 16. “It is not just about the one person, it’s about everyone else on the plane.”