JFK Airport evacuated after metal detector found 'unplugged'

Stock photo, PA

An entire terminal at New York's JFK Airport had to be evacuated and hundreds of passengers put back through security screening after a TSA agent failed to realise his metal detector was unplugged.

The human error saw two planes called back from the runway, and hours of delays for frustrated passengers.

The incident happened in Terminal 7 when screener Aluja Abdul Majed manned Lane No.1 without even noticing his metal detector wasn't working.

Although his alert lights never flashed once, sources said he could not tell police how long the machine had been dead for.

A law enforcement source told news.com.au: "The truth is, this is the failure of the most basic level of diligence.

"How can you expect the public to feel confident of the mission of the Transport Security Agency if they don't even know if the lights are turned on?"

Another source added: "It was simply an unplugged machine - the TSA is doing its best."

The non-functioning metal detector was only identified after bosses at the TSA noticed it, leaving the Port Authority with no choice but to recall two jumbo jets, including a United flight headed for San Francisco, so that passengers could be re-screened by a metal detector that was actually working.

The TSA released a statement saying that a metal detector had suffered a "malfunction" but did not confirm or deny that it had simply been left unplugged.

This was admittedly an embarrassing slip-up, but there are a number of worse airports in the world...

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