Guard leaves his post while woman signals man to slip through security

Woman and man embrace and walk into secure area at Newark

Senator Frank Lautenberg has released the TSA security camera footage of the man who bypassed security at the Newark Airport and shut-down the airport for 6 hours on Sunday January 3, 2010.

From the video, we can see passengers who are de-planning exiting the secure area. A security guard keeps people from re-entering. At 1:01 a TSA officer asks unidentified man to move away from secure area. At 4:54 the TSA officer leaves his post. At 5:31 an unidentified man enters secure area.

A woman approaches the vacant security post. She may have been among the passengers deplaning. A man approaches from outside the secure air and she appears to motion him under the barrier. He ducks under the cordon, they meet embrace and go off together.

The Newark terminal was shut down for 5 hours trying to locate the couple without success. Police are asking the public with help in identifying either the woman or the man.

Senator Frank Lautenberg released the video and this statement.

NEWARK, NJ – After calling for the release of surveillance footage of the January 3 security breach at Newark Liberty Airport in meetings with top security officials at the Transportation Security Administration, the Port Authority and Continental Airlines, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today released video footage of the security breach. The video, approved for release by the TSA, is not considered Sensitive Security Information and law enforcement officials have determined that it will be useful in helping to advance the ongoing investigation.

“The release of this video will give law enforcement another tool to help find the person who breached the security gate at Newark Liberty Airport,” stated Lautenberg. “I encourage this individual or anyone with knowledge of his identity to immediately contact law enforcement.”

“It is unacceptable that the Port Authority took so long to produce this tape, but now that it is public we have a better chance of getting to the bottom of this major security incident.”

The video can be viewed or downloaded here.

Key moments in the video:

* 1:01: TSA officer asks unidentified man to move away from secure area

* 4:54: TSA officer leaves his post

* 5:31: unidentified man enters secure area

The man is pictured here and here in two still shots from the video.

ABC News reports that the TSA surveillance cameras were broken at the time.

A set of security cameras owned by Newark Liberty International Airport were not functioning properly Sunday night when a person was spotted walking into a secure section of the airport, setting off a security alert and shutting down the airport for hours, ABC News has learned.

TSA puts extra layers of security in place following Christmas bombing attempt.

Now, the responsibility to operate those cameras — broken since Dec. 28 — has become a point of contention between the airport and the Transportation Security Administration.

The security cameras, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the airport’s operator, were rolling but not recording, forcing the TSA to seek permission to use a second set of surveillance cameras controlled by Continental Airlines.

The US airport security system is obviously porous and needs an overhaul to tighten gaps. It all boils down to under-motivated staff and poor supervision and reporting.

Other security cameras may have shown the man leaving the secure airport 20 minutes later. It did not stop authorities from shutting down the airport and re-screening everyone.