McCarran airport in Las Vegas sees minor security breach

A minor security breach occurred Friday morning at the Las Vegas airport.

Around 9 a.m., a customer waiting with a companion at the C gates screening area of McCarran International Airport went under a roped area, bypassing the security screening area after a miscommunication, said Christine Crews, McCarran spokesperson.

The entire incident was resolved within 20 minutes from when breach occurred and when the passenger was brought back, screened and sent on his way.

“The person was identified, but the processes are that someone is approached by law enforcement,” Crews said. “The TSA agents don’t confront them, so Metro Police was dispatched.”

The subject was never out of the line of sight during the breach, Crews said.

Aside from the incident, McCarran is operating at normal levels, not yet seeing any effects of delays reported at airports in the East Coast. Increased sick callouts at air traffic centers in Jacksonville, Florida, and a Washington, D.C., center that controls high-altitude air traffic over seven states caused the delays, according to the Associated Press.

LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were experiencing at least 90-minute delays in takeoffs Friday, the Associated Press reported.

There are no direct flights between McCarran and LaGuardia, Crews said, but it’s still a good idea for travelers to stay up to date on their flights.

“It’s going to impact the entire system. It’s going to be this ripple effect,” she said. “At this point there’s nothing we could definitively connect to that, but everyone who is traveling today should be monitoring their flight.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.