TSA hit by new scandal as passenger boards plane with THREE boxcutters - the weapon used by 9/11 hijackers



A passenger boarded an international flight from New York with three boxcutters in his hand luggage after TSA workers at JFK airport failed to spot the blades.

He walked straight through supposedly ramped-up security with the cutters, which were used as weapons by the 9/11 hijackers.

They were only discovered when they fell out of the passenger's bag as he put his hand luggage into an overhead locker on the Dominican Republic-bound flight, sparking a terror alert. The plane was evacuated.

Lapse: TSA supervisor Anthony DeJesus, left, and agent Ahmir Wilkerson, right, failed to notice three boxcutters go through an X-Ray machine, the Post reports



Port Authority police accused the TSA of being 'asleep on the job', according to the New York Post which reported the shocking security breach.

Referring to 9/11, a PAPD source told the newspaper: 'In case anyone has forgotten, the TSA was created because of a couple boxcutter incidents.

Factory worker Eusebio D. Peraltalajara, of Jersey City, walked through security on his way to the Dominican Republic on Saturday night, putting his hand luggage through the X-ray scanner.

But supervisor Anthony DeJesus, agent Ahmir Wilkerson and one other screener failed notice the three blades in the bag and allowed him to go through to board his JetBlue flight, the Post reports.

Security breach: Skyblue's Terminal 5 at JFK airport, New York. A plane was evacuated after a passenger managed to get on board with three boxcutters

The cutters were eventually discovered when a flight attendant, Fausto Penaloda, saw them fall out of Mr Peraltalajara's bag as he put it into the overhead locker.

Mr Penaloda alerted the captain and the FBI, Joint Terrorism task Force and PAPD Emergency Service Units were called to the scene.

All 136 passengers and the plane's five crew members were evacuated and the plane was grounded for three hours as agents used dogs to check for bombs.



The Post reports Mr Peraltalajara told authorities he used the cutters for work and had just forgotten to take them out of his bag. He has not been charged.

Lethal weapon: Boxcutters like this - which passed through JFK security - were used by the 9/11 hijackers (file photo)

A TSA spokeswoman, Ann Davis, told the newspaper the three staff who missed the cutters at security 'will all be disciplined and undergo remedial training'.

She said passengers were not at risk, telling the Post: 'There have been a number of additional security layers that have been implemented on aircraft that would prevent someone from causing harm with boxcutters.

"They include the possible presence of armed federal air marshals, hardened cockpit doors, flight crews trained in self-defence and a more vigilant traveling public who have demonstrated a willingness to intervene.'

Just three days after the terror scare another scandal hit the TSA, when an agent was arrested for helping drugs traffickers evade security at Buffalo Airport in Western New York.