Security breach at Newark delays India flights (Second Lead)
By IANSMonday, January 4, 2010
NEW YORK - Authorities are searching for a man who went the wrong way through a checkpoint at the Newark, New Jersey, airport, forcing its closure and delaying several flights, including some to India.
The security breach happened at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday (4 a.m. IST Monday) at Terminal C, when a person walked from the public side to the secure “sterile” side for passengers who had cleared screening, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
No flights were allowed to leave from Terminal C Sunday evening and thousands of other travellers who had reached the sterile area after going through checkpoints were moved back to the public area to be re-screened, the TSA 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, TSA spokeswoman Anne Davis said.
The incident caused arrival delays and mainly affected Continental Airlines, which is the airport’s largest tenant. Its flights to New Delhi and Mumbai were among those affected by the closure.
Newark Liberty International Airport, which is about 25 km from Manhattan, is the second-largest hub for Continental.
The airport handles about 35 million passengers a year.
