TSA screening problem forces evacuation at JFK

(AP) NEW YORK — Hundreds of air passengers and staff were evacuated from a terminal at New York City's Kennedy Airport after a metal detector malfunctioned at one of the security checkpoints.

The Transportation Security Administration says it closed Kennedy's Terminal 7 for about two hours Saturday morning after discovering the equipment problem and realizing that people had been let through without being properly screened.

Procedures call for the entire terminal to be emptied and the passengers re-checked whenever that happens.

Some travelers have posted photographs on Twitter showing the terminal lobby jammed with people waiting to get back in.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the screening checkpoints were reopened to passengers by 11:45 a.m.

The terminal is used by British Airways, United, and other airlines.

[knakao4]

Yes they make mistakes, this was a bad one, and yes there can always be improvements. TSA also makes air travel safer. Last week TSA confiscated 29 guns, 28 were loaded. [data at bottom of link] http://knakao.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/hug-a-tsa-agent/.

[fisher1949]

This happens at least once a week. TSA emptied the terminal at EWR last month after failing to check a baby. These incompetents are a joke and are wasting everyone's time and money. Every time this happens it costs tens of thousands of dollars in airline disruption, lost passenger time and wasted resources.

These imbeciles are incapable of providing effective airline security and are doing more damage than good. It is time to replace TSA with a sensible and effective system.

[stormerF69]

Why not just do away with the TSA and get some private people to handle the security at our airports? No costly pensions for incompetent personel,No costly government machines,just some good old profiling,else why would the FBI have profilers to catch criminals?

[LisaSimeone]

Ha ha ha ha ha!

TSA incompetence causes yet another terminal dump. That makes well over a dozen in the past few months; I can't keep track anymore.

Good. Since so many people don't mind that they can be sexually assaulted by the TSA, maybe they'll care when they can't get to their precious flights on time. After all, the only thing that talks in this country is money.

If this is what's needed to wake the sheeple up, so be it.