Newark Airport Closed Entire Terminal Over Un-Screened Baby
Somehow a baby going through security at Newark's Liberty International Airport didn't get screened properly on Friday. Surely this kind of thing must happen from time to time, right? Better hope it never happens while you're traveling because the Airport's response to this diaper-wearing bandit was to close an entire terminal for an hour and a half and ground every flight. It also made everyone in Terminal C go back through security. The worst part: They never found the baby.
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Much as we love to hate on them, we can't blame this one on the TSA, where sources told The New York Daily News' Joe Kemp that they advised against evacuating the terminal because it was a "low-risk" situation. This time you may direct your annoyance at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Per Kemp:
“Per protocol, TSA notified Port Authority Police of the situation and pointed out that this was a low-risk situation and indicated that TSA officers were looking for the family in the terminal,” the TSA said in a statement.
The Port Authority decided to close the terminal, ground departing flights and rescreen all passengers while the search was conducted.
Seriously though, this sounds like it probably happens all the time, without any TSA agents even knowing. Again, the Daily News tells us what's up, because it's the only outlet so far with a comprehensive story on this: It unfolded about 1:30 p.m. when a mother and baby went through a metal detector in Terminal C and the alarm went off. The mother handed the baby to the father, who had already gone through the detector — and then she was cleared to pass, too." And that little dance was enough to screw up everyone's plans for a large part of the afternoon. It makes La Guardia look positively convenient.
