JFK partially evacuated after security breach

A security breach forced the partial evacuation of Terminal 7 at Kennedy Airport early Friday morning, officials said.

Passengers, some in the process of boarding flights, were asked to leave all secure gate areas -- in order to later be rescreened.

A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman, Steve Coleman, said the incident occurred at about 5:20 a.m. when a passenger who had gone through initial screening at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint was asked to stand off to the side for additional screening. That passenger then walked off, Coleman said, forcing the evacuation.

Officials and witnesses said canine search teams then checked all areas of the terminal, including bathrooms.

But, Coleman said, it was unclear if the person was located. The rescreening process was completed at 7:42 a.m., Coleman said. Passengers were not asked to leave the terminal itself, only the secure areas.

The TSA was not immediately available for comment.

Coswell Osborne, 40, of Hempstead, who said he was in the process of boarding a USAirways flight to Grand Cayman Island, told Newsday he assumed at first there was some sort of weather-related delay.

"Then," he said, "we were told to exit the gate."

Osborne said there were police officers assisting TSA officers in ushering passengers from the terminal gate areas.

"A police dog came through," he said, noting officers were conducting searches in all terminal areas.

It was not clear how many passengers were in the terminal when the incident occurred or how many flights were affected by the security breach.