The two bypassed a security checkpoint, got special treatment at JFK

Feb 14, 2013 09:14 GMT  ·  By

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are currently at the center of an incident being investigated by the TSA, after they were given special treatment at JFK and bypassed a security checkpoint. The two were flying back to LA from Brazil, and were supposed to catch a connected flight at LAX.

TMZ reports that, as they got off the plane from Brazil, they immediately boarded another one for LA but, in the process, skipped the TSA screening.

It wasn’t their suggestion that they do so, but rather of an American Airlines employee who thought he or she could help the two avoid unwanted media attention.

Nothing good came out of the idea, obviously.

“After Kim and Kanye took their seats on the LA-bound plane... a TSA agent yanked them off the flight and made K&K go through another layer of security. We're told the plane was delayed for roughly an hour while the couple was screened by TSA agents,” TMZ reports.

The TSA is saying that an investigation is currently underway but it’s already cleared the two stars of any share of responsibility in the incident.

“An airline employee escorted the two travelers through a non-public area in order to provide expedited access to their domestic flight,” the TSA says in a statement to the same media outlet.

“In doing so, the airline employee violated security protocols by permitting the travelers to by-pass the TSA security checkpoint. TSA officials learned of the violation and conducted a private screening of the two passengers in the area of the jetway,” the statement further notes.

American Airlines has also released a statement saying the blame lies with an overzealous employee. At the same time though, it denies the delay was entirely caused by the incident involving the two, saying “a number of connecting bags were [also] delayed getting to the aircraft.”