New York JFK TSA Lets Passengers Go Into Terminal Without Screening, Tries to Cover It Up. Hijinks Ensue.

As TSA has myriad problems like sexual assualts at screening checkpoints and agents who manipulate naked imaging devices so they can get a nude glimpse of passengers they find attractive.


Philadelphia PreCheck

But airport security — along with customers and border patrol — at New York JFK is something in a special league of its own. Whether it’s a plane full of passengers from Mexico being allowed to skip immigration or a plane full of passengers from Mexico being allowed to skip immigration, New York JFK is home to the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. And the (TSA) gang who ran through the terminal screaming maniacally about a bomb and a shooting victim (neither of which were real).

So it’s really no surprise that TSA at New York JFK didn’t notice passengers walking through a checkpoint in JetBlue’s terminal 5 yesterday morning without being screened (“because the TSA left the area open and unattended”) and then decided not to tell anyone about it for two hours hoping they could find the passengers in the terminal themselves and not have to admit the screwup.

“The TSA tried to mitigate the situation by sending their screeners through the terminal in violation of all the protocols,” a source said. “The protocol says law enforcement is immediately notified.”

Three of the eleven passengers were identified and screened once they landed at their destination. Because that’s how it’s supposed to work. Good thing they caught the passengers before they left the terminal after their trip, or else they might have traveled without ever having been screened.


West Palm Beach, No Line for Standard Screening While Passengers Wait for PreCheck

As with each and every collossal failure at TSA, they pull out the same statement.

The TSA said it was “confident” the incident represented “no threat to the aviation transportation system.”

“TSA works with a network of security layers both seen and unseen,” the statement said.

This is actually true, since TSA screening does nothing to detect actual threats, the lack of screening does not increase risk of threat.

Fixing the TSA really isn’t that complicated, you need to separate regulating security from performing the actual screening in order to get better accountability. Having the screening agency regulate themselves simply doesn’t work.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Back in the good ‘ol days, say 1989, We were aboard a Pan Am flight to Buenos Aires in 1st class. When we landed, we got right off the plane and walked right PAST IMMIGRATIONS – because no-one was there, and frankly looked to me like the little wooden booths used for Quarantine checks in Narita Airport. When we hit Customs, we handed over the Immigration Arrival Cards, but Customs said they did not need them. SO – we went merrily on our vacation, and all was fine until we TRIED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. We were stopped and asked ‘how did you enter the country (because there is no indication in our Passports that we legally arrived here). I guess the POINT is that yes – you can miss-a-step here and there, but we almost missed our flight home because it took them over an hour to understand what happened.

  2. The TSA. And Homeland security have balloned in record time into colossal waste of money and are more likely a security liability than resource. That monstrosity has risen to the mess that is putting a serious drag on the economy.
    Now think about it. The government wants to turn over the AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL system to commercial contractors.
    Porn in the tower instead of radar. People not at their posts while you and your loved ones are in a plane under their control.
    Former airline employee. I no longer fly.

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