6 days ago
Another disaster at Newark Airport as TODDLER gets lost on luggage conveyor belt
Embattled Newark Airport is raising eyebrows for yet another disaster, this time involving a child.
A two-year-old managed to ride on top of Newark Liberty International Airport's baggage conveyer belt last week after slipping behind a ticketing counter without his parents noticing.
The tot then climbed onto the ankle-high conveyer belt where passengers leave their luggage before boarding their flights.
The incident occurred inside Terminal A on Wednesday, May 28, as the child's mother was attempting to re-book a flight on Jet-Blue Airlines.
The toddler rode the conveyor belt down to the checked baggage room on the lower level of the airport.
Port Authority officers responded to the incident and located the child.
Port Authority Police PBA President Frank Conti told Pix11 that the responding officers jumped on the conveyor belt to track down the toddler.
'The two cops were able to move fast into the system,' he told the outlet. Which was vital.'
'There was a split in the belts,' he explained. 'One officer went toward one direction, one toward the other direction.'
'One of them was able to observe the child as the child was approaching one of the x-ray units.'
The child was unharmed when he was found.
Medics were dispatched to check the child as a precaution.
The incident comes as Newark Airport has been plagued by delays and cancellations for months.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy held a news conference at the airport on Monday to announce the reopening of a major runway nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.
The ongoing delays have been caused by air traffic control outages, runway construction, and the fact that over 20 percent of FAA controllers at Newark walked off the job, among other factors.
Just last month, health officials also sounded the alarm over a potential measles outbreak at Newark Airport.
An infected individual traveled through the airport's Terminal B - used by United, JetBlue and international airlines, potentially exposing hundreds to the world's most infectious disease.
And the week prior to that, Newark airport's control tower went dark for 90 seconds, prompting workers to take trauma leave as chaos ensued at the travel hub.
The case also marked at least the second time a measles infected patient has passed through Newark's gates, after another patient also visited in early April.
