according to a newspaper wall street Journal,” Authorities shut down part of Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport for over two hours Wednesday after an airline employee walked through a security checkpoint without being fully screened.
The breach triggered a shutdown of the A-2 checkpoint and the 10 gates beyond it shortly after 11 a.m., said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
The person who walked through the security checkpoint was a female employee of Atlanta-based ExpressJet Airlines, according to an official with knowledge of the situation. The identity of the employee was not disclosed.
At least 11 departing flights were delayed and three incoming flights were diverted to other gates while police located the employee and conducted a security sweep, said Port Authority spokesman Ron Marsico.
All passengers inside the terminal, which was shut down during the search, had to be rescreened by the Transportation Security Administration afterwards.
“The terminal was closed while TSA officials identified the individual and rescreened them,” said TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein in an email message. “In order to ensure the safety of all passengers, TSA is rescreening passengers on flights remaining in the terminal.”
The breach delayed flights into and out of the A-2 wing of the terminal, according to the Port Authority, and some airline passengers had to be bused to separate terminals in an effort to catch their scheduled flights. Terminal A serves primarily domestic airlines, including American, JetBlue, Air Canada, Southwest, Continental, US Air and United.
The affected checkpoint and gates were reopened shortly after 1:20 p.m.”
