DANGER ROOM Editor Noah Shachtman is at JFK airport in New York where there’s been a security breach that’s thrown terminal three into chaos. Gotta love the wild ‘n crazy world of TSA, where security breaches mean you trap all the passengers in an enclosed area, leaving them completely vulnerable.
Anyhow, as Noah reports:
I’m at New York’s JFK airport, waiting to catch a flight to Los Angeles. And there’s been a major security breach here at the Delta terminal, number three.
According to TSA workers, someone ran through the security checkpoint, maybe an hour ago. No one has been allowed to pass through, since. There must be a thousand people here who can’t get on their flights.
The TSA workers have no idea what’s going on — “We know as much as you,” one told me.
Passengers are generally calm. But that could change, quick. Passengers in the “sterile areas” were just told to “evacuate the building.”
Elaine Kramer, mother of blogger Neil, is at JFK airport, stuck on a Delta Airlines plane, sitting somewhere between the runway and the terminal, having just returned to NY after Passover. Since no planes can leave, no passengers can deplane.
Anyhow, as Neil’s mother reports:
“We had to fly around for an extra hour, but everyone was very nice and brought us an extra round of soda and potato chips.”