Newark TSA Screeners Lose Woman Who Tested Positive For Explosives And Shuts Airport Down

Newark TSA screeners lost track of a woman who tested positive for explosives and allowed her to leave on a plane bound for Cleveland, Ohio. The woman with alleged explosives residue on her body was never identified and left the Cleveland airport before Ohio TSA agents realized what had happened, the Daily Mail reports.

Transportation Security Administration security failures caused “dozens” of flight delays and more than 100 flight cancellations as passengers waited for hours inside the airport as searches were conducted for the bag and the identity of the mystery woman. The mystery woman “slipped through” a TSA checkpoint at Terminal C after being flagged during a preliminary test for explosives.

The Newark Liberty International Airport was locked down by TSA screeners after losing track of both the mystery woman who tested positive for explosives and a bag with possible explosive residue that sat on the tarmac for approximately 45 minutes. Airport passengers were reportedly furious when they were forced to wait in line for hours after their flights were canceled yesterday.

The bomb squad found the bag with possible explosive residue which was misplaced on the tarmac after two and a half hours of searching the Newark Liberty International Airport landing and baggage storage area. The over-sized bag was eventually cleared and removed from the airport tarmac.

Fox 5 New York notes the TSA has refused to comment about the alleged involvement of explosives at the Newark Liberty International Airport. The Newark airport lockdown was ordered “out of an abundance of caution” is all the TSA is publicly stating at this time.