Sunday, January 17, 2010

At 3:00pm local time (2000 UTC) Saturday, Terminal 8 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was evacuated due to an apparent breach of security. The terminal was cleared and passengers were rescreened, although at this time the terminal has been reopened. The incident caused delays on many American Airlines flights, as Terminal 8 is one of its central hubs.

A 57-year-old Brooklyn man, Jules Paul Bouloute, exiting from a flight from Florida had apparently entered through a door which was restricted to Airport employees only. Bouloute was returning from Haiti, after last Tuesday’s earthquake.

This incident comes after a graduate student, Haisong Jiang, allegedly entered through an exit gate at a Newark airport screening area. The incident caused similar delays and shut down the airport.