Breach leads to evacuation of JFK terminal

NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A terminal at New York's Kennedy International Airport was evacuated Saturday after a passenger went through a restricted doorway, authorities said.

The security breach at Terminal 8, housing American Airlines, occurred about 3:25 p.m. when an arriving passenger from Orlando, Fla., walked through the doorway, The New York Times reported.

A spokesman for American Airlines, Charley Wilson, said the door was one employees use. He also said there was no threat because all passengers in the terminal were being re-screened.

Passengers were ordered out of the secured gate area to be re-screened. Those on planes waiting to depart had to get off.

Officials reopened the terminal by early evening but by then flights out of JFK were two to three hours behind schedule, Wilson said.

The Transportation Security Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, are investigating. Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said responsibility for the door belongs to American Airlines.

Although the passenger's image was captured on surveillance video, he has not been found, authorities said.