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Can you identify this man responsible for terminal shutdown?
BY NOAH COHEN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Officials released a video Thursday showing a man sneaking past security at Newark Liberty International Airport apparently to hug a women, leading to a lockdown and delaying flights for six hours Sunday.
The video, made public by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), shows a man embrace his female companion in Newark Liberty's Continental Airlines Terminal C before she walks alone into a secure, passengers-only area of the terminal monitored by a federal Transportation Security Administration officer at a checkpoint.
When the officer briefly leaves his post, the woman signals to the unidentified man who ducks under a rope line and crosses into the secure area through an exit before the couple continues arm-in-arm further into the passengers-only area.
An exiting passenger noticed the intruder and alerted TSA officials, prompting an evacuation and raising added concerns about airline security in the wake of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on Northwest Flight 253 in Detroit.Lautenberg had called on federal officials to release the video to the media and public in hopes it could help identify the man.
"The release of this video will give law enforcement another tool to help find the person who breached the security gate at Newark Liberty Airport," the senator said in a statement released with the footage.
Following the breach, the TSA employee who left his post was reassigned and on Tuesday placed on administrative leave, according to a TSA statement. Security staffing at the airport has been modified and all federal airport security managers were being asked to evaluate their security.
"The surveillance video from Newark Liberty Airport clearly shows that a TSA Officer's actions led to the Sunday incident," Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday. We will use this hard lesson to reinforce the sharp focus and tight discipline at all our stations across the country and ensure we maintain the public trust."
The incident, which began with an unattended guard post, revealed a larger security breakdown, reports said.
Security cameras maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were streaming live video but not recording footage, forcing airport officials to scramble to track down a tape from cameras maintained by Continental Airlines.
The video recording system had been broken for six days, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Wednesday. The TSA was unaware of the problem and did not notify the Port Authority because the recordings are only checked when an incident has occurred, the Associated Press reported.
"It is unacceptable that the Port Authority took so long to produce this tape, but now that it is public we have a better chance of getting to the bottom of this major security incident," Lautenberg said in the Thursday statement.
On Wednesday, Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) sent a strongly worded letter to TSA Acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides demanding changes to security procedures at Newark Liberty. Click here to read the letter.
"Such a critical area of the airport that allows direct access to the secure terminal should have additional security measures beyond a single agent, which was clearly not enough to prevent this week's breach," the letter said. "Equally as disturbing as the initial breach of security was the uncoordinated manner in which it was handled."
TSA agents waited more than an hour to alert Port Authority police of the breach, the letter said.
In a statement Thursday, the Port Authority said it appreciated the leadership of Lautenberg, Menendez and Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.) in addressing airport security.
"The flying public deserves the best security available and we will continue to work with the TSA and all of our partners to ensure that there is better coordination and stepped up security efforts in the future," the statement said.
As lawmakers and security officials review what went wrong at the airport, police continue to search for the unidentified man who caused the scare. He could face penalties including up to $10,000 in fines for "circumventing screening," according to a TSA spokeswoman.
Anyone with information about the man is asked to called Port Authority Police at 800-828-PAPD (7273)
If everyone does their job, this won't be an issue.
identify what was she wearing? what did she look like from security camera photos. age, hair etc?
ascertain from the time of incident what flights were departing in the next
30 minute to 2 hours window? there may have been 4-5 flights departing in this time window?
with security photos,check with all flight attendants in that time window if they can recall the women. if so do they remember the seat? the seating manifest will identify the women. it will not be easy, it will take good old detective work.
joseph p.martino