Security scare at US airport

AP

LONG WAIT: Passengers fill the terminal after a security breach shut down Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Relevant offers

Americas

Nightlife matriarch dies at show Kidnapped woman dies in police chase US, Taleban in contact Romney climbs into Obama over China US interracial marriage increases Kiwis in cruise ship cocaine bust 15-minute-old newborn gets heart pacemaker 'Starved, beaten' teen weighed just 32kg 358 confirmed dead in Honduras jail fire Customer has heart attack at Heart Attack restaurant

A man who caused a security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport, forcing major delays and grounding flights for six hours, left about 20 minutes after he walked the wrong way through a security checkpoint.

Someone picking up a passenger told an officer guarding the exit that he thought he saw a man enter through the doors on Sunday, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said.

TSA reviewed surveillance video before sweeping the airport, she said.

The video confirmed the man had entered through the exit, and officials made passengers leave the terminal and be rescreened.

The video also showed the man leaving the terminal through another exit about 20 minutes later, Davis said, although it was unclear when authorities learned the man had left.

"We have to operate under the assumption that he's still in the sterile area," Davis said. "We have to ensure that he hadn't introduced anything to the sterile area."

Authorities found nothing suspicious when they searched the terminal after evacuating passengers. They are still trying to determine the man's identity.

Terminal C, where the security breach occurred, is used mostly by Continental Airlines. Airline spokesman Susannah Thurston said the airline still had delays, particularly with flights that originated at Newark and are now running behind schedule at other airports.

Sarah Kornblet, 29, of Washington, DC, was in Newark and just about to board her Continental flight to Mumbai on Sunday when the security breach occurred. She was evacuated for about three hours and then had to go through security again.

"Newark airport was a mess. Not one single announcement was made, with these thousands of people waiting for hours," Kornblet said. "We learned about it from watching CNN."

Her flight was repeatedly delayed. The latest estimate she heard was a departure of 4.45pm on Monday.

Tom Hiletch, of New York City, was trying to get to St Thomas on Monday with his wife and toddler.

"When we got here this morning, there were thousands of people. Long, long lines, people delayed, people rerouted," he said. "It was pretty frustrating."

But Emily Martin, who was travelling home to San Francisco on Monday with her husband and two small children, said the security breach the day before hadn't affected her family's flight.

"It's been smooth sailing for us all the way," she said.

At Oslo's Gardermoen airport, a Continental flight to Newark that was scheduled to leave at 11am local time Monday was delayed at least six hours. Passengers sat on suitcases and chatted among themselves as they waited in a check-in line that barely moved for one-and-a-half hours.

Also on Sunday, the TSA announced that passengers flying to the US from 14 nations regarded as state sponsors of terrorism and countries of interest would be subject to enhanced screening.

- AP