A JetBlue flight from JFK Airport to the Dominican Republic was grounded for three hours over the weekend after a flight attendant discovered three boxcutters in the carry-on bag of a passenger — three boxcutters that no one at the security checkpoint seemed to notice.

The passenger, who uses the boxcutters at his job and claims to have forgotten they were in his bag, had gone through the TSA checkpoint, where three separate TSA screeners had a chance to spot them on the X-ray scanner.

But it wasn’t until a flight attendant asked the passenger to put his bag in the overhead bin and the boxcutters slipped out that the forbidden blades were spotted.

From the NY Post:

They called JetBlue security, which raised the alarm to PAPD Emergency Service Units, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI, sparking an evacuation of the plane’s 136 passengers and five crew members.

The PAPD’s Canine Unit swept the plane for bombs and all of the passengers had to be rescreened.

A rep for the TSA says the two agents and the supervisor who should have caught the boxcutters at the checkpoint “will all be disciplined and undergo remedial training.”

The passenger was not charged with any crime.

The TSA rep says it’s not such a big deal because “There have been a number of additional security layers that have been implemented on aircraft that would prevent someone from causing harm with boxcutters.”

Among those additional layers are “flight crews trained in self-defense and a more vigilant traveling public who have demonstrated a willingness to intervene.”

So there you have it — The TSA can do a crappy job because we’re all a little more willing to wrestle with a terrorist.

TSA staff jet blew it [NY Post]

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