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11 People Stroll Unscreened Through Abandoned TSA Checkpoint At JFK

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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Eleven people walked through an unattended TSA checkpoint at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday morning, but officials are “confident” the unscreened individuals posed no threat.

NBC News reported that the group of 11 people walked unchecked through an unmanned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at around 6 a.m. Three of those individuals set off the metal detector.

TSA did not report the breach to airport police for two hours, but sent TSA agents through the terminal to track down the people who were unscreened, the New York Daily News reports.

In a statement, TSA said that “Early reports indicate 3 passengers did not receive required secondary screening after alarming the walk through metal detector,” and that it is “reviewing reports of a possible security incident this morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport.”

TSA is supposed to notify airport security immediately if there is a security breach, an unnamed law enforcement official told the New York Post.

“The TSA tried to mitigate the situation by sending their screeners through the terminal in violation of all the protocols,” the source said. “The protocol says law enforcement is immediately notified.”

By 9 a.m., the TSA had completed a security sweep and determined that the individuals had boarded their flights.

“What you have is 11 people, unscreened, who boarded unknown flights to unknown destinations,” the law enforcement official said. “This is the failure of the TSA to do its job.”

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