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The breaches
occurred at about 6 a.m. local time at a checkpoint lane that
was not fully staffed, NBC News reported.
The passengers' carry-on bags were screened and cleared by a
security team with sniffer dogs, Transportation Safety
Administration (TSA) sources told the broadcaster.
Three of the passengers set off metal detectors but were
permitted to continue to their boarding gates without being body
searched by staff, the broadcaster said.
U.S. authorities beefed up security at airports in 2001
following the 9/11 attacks.
A debate over whether it should be tightened further has been
given impetus by a deadly shooting in January in a Florida
airport baggage claim area, and attempts by President Donald
Trump to clamp down on immigration from some Muslim-majority
countries.
The Port Authority said three passengers were screened after
they got off their flight when it landed in California.
It did not say if they were the people who had also set off the
metal detectors, and gave no information about the identities or
flight schedules of the other eight passengers.
The TSA said it was confident the incident presented "minimal
risk to the aviation transportation system," NBC News reported.
TSA and port authority officials were not immediately available
for further comment.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; editing by John Stonestreet)
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