"Authorities: Passenger search at OIA was a false alarm"

Friday, April 6, 2007

Authorities: Passenger search at OIA was a false alarm
A security breach at New York's JFK airport forced flights to be searched
By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez and Beth Kassab
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel


A day after federal agents boarded a Delta Air Lines Flight from New York's
JFK airport and searched all passengers at Orlando International Airport,
authorities say it was all a false alarm.

A security breach at New York's biggest airport Thursday afternoon forced
federal agencies to order flights from JFK to three cities, including
Orlando, be searched.

JFK officials said a man breached a security checkpoint at one of the
airport's terminals and that set off a frantic search for the individual.
That caused evacuations of the terminal in New York and delayed flights.

The search of Delta passengers arriving at OIA as well as two other cities
Thursday night did not lead to any arrests. Searches of planes and
passengers are common when authorities suspect a criminal or contraband may
be on board, or when someone is flagged for further screening.

TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said passengers were rescreened as they exited
a Delta flight in Orlando Thursday night out of an "abundance of caution"
after the security breach at JFK, where the plane departed. "There is no
nexus to terrorism here," Koshetz. "We rescreened everybody and found no
threat. It was a police matter."

At some point yesterday, federal agencies also considered the possibility
that a suspect wanted in a New Jersey bank robbery that led to a fatal
shooting of an FBI agent may have tried to board a plane at JFK.

That theory turned out to be speculation because the bank robbery fugitive
was arrested this morning after an intense law-enforcement manhunt in New
Jersey.

The breach at Terminal 3 of JFK International Airport happened about 4:15
p.m., a few minutes before Delta Flight 1227 destined for Orlando left from
that terminal. Delta's Web site said the flight backed away from the
terminal about 4:24 p.m., just a few minutes later than scheduled. It was
due to arrive a few minutes after 7 p.m. but passengers were not cleared
until about 9:15 p.m.

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