Tag Archives: JFK Airport

Passengers walk through JFK checkpoint without being screened: NBC

(Reuters) – Eleven passengers walked through a security checkpoint without being screened before apparently boarding planes at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday, national media reported.

The breaches occurred at about 6 a.m. local time at a checkpoint lane that was not fully staffed, NBC News reported.

The passengers’ carry-on bags were screened and cleared by a security team with sniffer dogs, Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) sources told the broadcaster.

Three of the passengers set off metal detectors but were permitted to continue to their boarding gates without being body searched by staff, the broadcaster said.

U.S. authorities beefed up security at airports in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks.

A debate over whether it should be tightened further has been given impetus by a deadly shooting in January in a Florida airport baggage claim area, and attempts by President Donald Trump to clamp down on immigration from some Muslim-majority countries.

The Port Authority said three passengers were screened after they got off their flight when it landed in California.

It did not say if they were the people who had also set off the metal detectors, and gave no information about the identities or flight schedules of the other eight passengers.

The TSA said it was confident the incident presented “minimal risk to the aviation transportation system,” NBC News reported.

TSA and port authority officials were not immediately available for further comment.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien; editing by John Stonestreet)

Terminal temperarily evacuated at JFK airport over suspicious package

A general view of the international arrival terminal at JFK airport in New York

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Police temporarily evacuated a terminal at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday as they investigated a report of a suspicious package, authorities said.

A Homeland Security K-9 unit was checking into an unattended bag at about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) in the departure area of Terminal Five, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the airport.

Pentangelo said the bomb squad had responded and roadways to the area were temporarily closed. The package was cleared and the terminal resumed normal operations, the spokesman said.

The evacuation came a day after suicide bombers blew themselves up at the main airport in Istanbul, Turkey, killing at least 41 people and injuring hundreds.

After the attack, the Port Authority deployed armed, high-visibility patrols at the three main airports in the New York metropolitan region.

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis and Laila Kearney; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Three Arrested In New York For Supporting ISIS

Three New York residents have been arrested in connection with support and attempts to join ISIS.

The three men, two with Uzebkistan citizenship and the other Kazakhstan, wanted to “wage jihad” and one said he would attempt to kill the President if he was ordered to do so by ISIS leadership.

The men were identified in the complaint as Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev,  24, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Kazakhstan; and Abror Habibov, 30, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan.

The men were focused upon by federal authorities after making online statements supporting ISIS and calling for others to join with them to support ISIS.  They also posted online in foreign message boards attempting to recruit new ISIS members.

One was arrested at JFK Airport trying to board a plane to Turkey.  The other two men had place tickets for travel to the region within the next month.

The group also had plans to conduct domestic terror attacks if they could not make it to join ISIS in Syria.

“We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIL and those who support them,” U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement. “Anyone who threatens our citizens and our allies, here or abroad, will face the full force of American justice.”