Newark Airport terminal shut after baby goes through checkpoint unscreened

By Joe Kemp

A baby who got through security at Newark Airport without being properly screened Friday triggered an evacuation and set off a round of finger-pointing.

The Transportation Security Administration suggested that airport cops over-reacted to the “low-risk” breach — while the Port Authority complained the feds waited too long to notify them.

Passengers, meanwhile, had to be cleared out of Terminal C and re-screened — and flights were grounded while bomb-sniffing dogs made the rounds.

It started about 1:30 p.m.

when a mother and baby went through a metal detector and the alarm went off, authorities said.

The mother handed the baby to the father, who had already gone through the detector — and then she was cleared to pass, too.

After the couple and the baby headed to their gate, TSA officers realized the child did not get double-checked and they started searching for them.

“Per protocol, TSA notified Port Authority Police of the situation and pointed out that this was a low-risk situation and indicated that TSA officers were looking for the family in the terminal,” the TSA said in a statement.

The Port Authority pointed out in a statement that it took 30 minutes for the TSA to let them know a passenger had gotten through.

“We're not going to second guess a real-time decision made by our police department to err on the side of caution and protecting passenger safety,” the agency said.

The terminal was reopened shortly before 3 p.m.