[Infowarrior] - Cameras Didn't Work At Newark

[Richard Forno]

Jan 5, 2010 10:03 pm US/Eastern
Comedy Of Errors: Cameras Didn't Work At Newark

http://wcbstv.com/local/newark.airport.continental.2.1407062.html

It's a tale of shocking ineptitude: CBS 2 has learned a series of  
missteps unnecessarily added to the mayhem at Newark Liberty  
International Airport on Sunday. The six-hour delay stranded thousands  
of people, creating extreme crowding and chaos.

The mistakes made at the airport give new meaning to the term "domino  
effect." It was a cascading series of missteps that cry out for action.

The sign at the Transportation Security Administration screening post  
at Newark read: "Premises Under Constant Video Surveillance."

What is should add is: "If We're Lucky."

That's because CBS 2 has learned that when an unidentified man  
breached a secure area at Newark on Sunday night, delaying thousands  
of passengers for hours, the TSA cameras weren't working.

That's right – they weren't even recording, sources said, and needed a  
reboot, which the agency apparently didn't ask for. That set off a  
chain reaction of even more missteps that caused needless chaos and  
inconvenience for several thousand hapless passengers.

With the cameras inoperable, the TSA tried to get a second set of  
surveillance video from Continental Airlines. But the TSA apparently  
didn't know the correct telephone number and the specific procedures  
to get the footage. That caused a two hour delay in identifying the  
intruder and closing the airport to look for him.

When they finally got the footage, they couldn't find the intruder,  
discovering later that he had slipped out another entrance 20 minutes  
after he arrived.

"The question I would ask is should there be an independent camera  
system there. Who should be responsible for the law enforcement?" said  
Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Lautenberg is furious about what happened and he's going to hold  
hearings to demand answers.

"You cannot afford a mistake here anymore than a surgeon in the  
operating room," he said. "This system was broken."

But that's not all. The Edwardes family of Ontario, Canada may have  
felt the worst of the domino effect. They were finally flying home on  
Tuesday after being stranded since Sunday. For them, a 90 minute  
layover to change planes from San Diego to Ontario turned into a two- 
and-a-half day delay.

"We were a minute away from boarding," said Terri Edwardes. "We just  
want to go home."

The family was left to wait for hours and hours with no water, no  
food, no information about whether their plane would take off, and no  
hotel. So what did they get from Continental?

"They gave us one of these packages with a toothpaste, and a  
toothbrush, and hairspray in it. And deodorant," said Jake Edwardes.

Needless to say, there is a lot of blame, and a lot of finger  
pointing. But as of now, if it were to happen again, there's no  
guarantee it would be handled smoothly.