Associated Press
SEATTLE – Two security managers have been suspended following a breach that shut down Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for two hours, a Northwest Airlines spokeswoman said.
Northwest also will change procedures to make it easier to minimize the impact of such breaches and to stop a subway train from leaving the main terminal, said Kathy Peach, a company spokesman in Eagan, Minn.
Planes at the gate, including some that had been pushed back for departure, and all passenger concourses were evacuated Tuesday after a food service worker apparently misunderstood security personnel and went through a checkpoint after being asked to stop.
About 7,000 passengers on 50 flights were delayed after the woman scooted onto a train from the main terminal to the south satellite terminal. She was stopped shortly afterward and nothing illegal was found.
The checkpoint is operated by Huntleigh USA Corp., which Northwest pays to provide security. A Huntleigh duty manager and supervisor who were working at the checkpoint have been suspended pending further investigation, Peach said.
“They’re there to make sure that everyone is doing the procedures,” she said.
Peach also said that a change has been made so that any security worker can now hit a button to stop the subway train. Previously the button could be pushed only by a supervisor.
Had the subway been stopped as soon as the woman got aboard, concourses and planes would not have had to be evacuated, Peach said.
Federal Aviation Administration officials also are investigating.
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