Major Security Breach at JFK Airport; Delta Terminal Evacuated -- Updated Again

New York's JFK airport suffered a major security breach in the Delta Terminal early Thursday evening after an unidentified person ran through a security checkpoint, according to Transportation Security Administration screeners, prompting airline in security officials to evacuate the areas beyond the checkpoints.

A man "circumvented" security at 4:15 pm, according to a TSA news recording, and when screeners could not locate him, they evacuated the terminal and started rescreening individuals at 8 pm. They are still looking for him.

Port Authority spokesman Alan Hicks said said that only the areas after the screening area were evacuated, delaying 14 flights, but the rest of the airport was not affected. He could not confirm whether anyone had run past security or not, but said the TSA asked the Port
Authority to also examine parts of Terminal 2.

As of 9:30 p.m., things were getting back to normal, though some flights are still delayed, according to Delta spokesman Kip Smith, who referred questions about security to the TSA.

More than a thousand passengers were stranded until security can be restored, according to Noah Shachtman, a Wired Magazine contributing editor and Danger Room's editor, who is on the scene, waiting for a flight. UPDATE: Noah now on plane, with fuller story below about how TSA screeners handled the situation well, while Delta did not so well.

Noah says passengers are calm for the most part, but that the evacuation might just be causing originally caused more of a security hazard:

The deeply crazy part of this fiasco is that it's created an even more hazardous situation than any freak rushing through a checkpoint ever could. God forbid someone should rush into the terminal with explosives strapped to his chest. The death toll would be in the hundreds.

And if that wasn't scary enough, you should hear the soft rock blasting from the airport's speakers. And the occasional pre-recorded bromides against smoking in the terminal, handing other people your bags, etc...

Reader Terri writes in to say her husband is also stuck:

My husband, a US Naval Officer is also stranded - he tells me the the TSA has no idea what happened and nothing has been annouced. All of the evacuees are being 'held' in a sheltered building offsite.

LAST UPDATE: 9:30 EST:

I'm on the plane, finally, after navigating a thousand-person crush or nervous, angry fliers. The calm I described earlier quickly dissipated, after a series of blunders by Delta officials.

TSA guards had the situation pretty well in hand. A deep-voice manager cracked jokes and kept people orderly. "Worst
I've seen in five years," said one guard. But things seemed under control, mostly.

Then, over the loudspeakers, Delta suddenly began announcing final boarding calls - for Barcelona, for Austin, for Cincinnati, for Vegas, and for L.A.

Travelers, terrified of missing their flights, began to waive their boarding passes in the air, and elbow their fellow passengers aside. Soon,
EVERYONE was on an about-to-depart flight. Tensions rose, as people closed in, tighter and tighter – all the while, TSA guards ordering shoes off, belts undone, and laptops out. Curses flew in a half-dozen tongues.

I slipped through - a lifetime of negotiating New York's subways makes me pretty good at coping with throngs. I started walking to my gate, as dozens and dozens sprinted by me. One man ran with an infant, the child's head bobbing violently.
An old couple limped at top speed, their faces frozen in panic.
Austin-bound.

I told the trio of Delta attendants at the Austin plane's gate to stop with all the dire announcements - that they were scaring people, bad. The three looked back at me, silently, with what could only be described as fuck-you eyes. I gave the same speech to the Cincinnati-bound gate crew. Not her problem, she shouted.

Danger Room's Sharon Weinberger is on the story, as well. Photo: Stephen Hanafin