Security breach lets 11 people waltz onto flights without TSA screening

11 people walk through TSA checkpoint at JFK without being screened

(Image credit: NBC News/YouTube)

On Monday morning at about 6 a.m., 11 passengers walked through a Transportation Security Administration security lane at New York JFK airport's Terminal 5 without being screened by TSA agents, law enforcement officials said. The TSA waited two hours to inform Port Authority police, and in that time, the 11 passengers boarded their planes and flew off. Three of the passengers were apparently not screened even after they set off the metal detector, though the Port Authority police say three of the 11 people were identified through security camera footage and checked when they landed in California. The other eight passengers have not yet been identified.

The TSA said it is reviewing the security lapse, but is "confident" that the breach "presents minimal risk to the aviation transportation system," in part because the passengers' bags were screened and they passed by a K9 team. Other people are less sanguine about 11 people boarding airplanes without being checked for weapons. Those critics include the New York Daily News:

You can learn more about the incident in the NBC Nightly News report below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.