Investigators Exclusive: A pair of alarming security breaches at JFK Airport in Queens

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There are new questions about airport security after a system that is designed to detect intruders at JFK failed again. What raises even more eyebrows is that the people the system failed to find wanted to be spotted.

It's called the Smart Fence, because of its high-tech sensors and hundreds of surveillance cameras that surround Kennedy Airport. But the Eyewitness News Investigators have learned that the perimeter fence recently failed to alert security during back-to-back breaches.

We've been able to confirm that two days in a row last month, the $100-million perimeter fence failed to alert security to the threat of an intrusion. In one case, a fisherman climbed over the fence near a runway, and in the other, stranded boaters tried to alert security by shaking the sensor-embedded fence only to be left waiting and waiting for help to arrive.

It was a Saturday evening when Lucas Marte and his uncle were out fishing in Jamaica Bay when they decided to head to the airport to watch planes take off. It was a fun evening until the boat engine broke down.

"When we tried to turn the engine back on to go back to the dock, the engine failed," Marte said. "It didn't want to turn back on, and we saw a problem."

Stranded, they decided to tie their boat to the runway perimeter fence, hoping it might alert airport security.

"We tied our boat to that fence," he said. "And like 20 minutes later, I see security guy coming. And I say hello, we need help."

It took that long because, according to an airport source, the perimeter fence with motion-detection sensors and cameras never alerted security.

"I guess that didn't happen," Marte said. "I think if someone with bad intention was there, they have time to load a missile and blow JFK."

Eyewitness News has also learned that the day before, there was another breach. In that instance, someone apparently climbed over the perimeter fence near the other runway to go fishing. And the source says the fence never alerted security.

The Port Authority declined an interview request, but in a statement, a spokesman said that, "The safety and security of our airports is a top priority. We have made significant investments in personnel and technology that go above and beyond federal security standards to protect our airports' perimeter."

"There's been so many problems with this detection system," said Congressman Peter King, who believes it is time for an investigation. "In view of the history it's had in the past, this is really something that has to be investigated because this is really an area of security where terrorists definitely want to strike."

Letters obtained by Eyewitness News between the Port Authority and Raytheon, the fence's builder, clearly show that problems go back years.

"The False Alarm rate(s) do not meet the PIDS contract requirement," the Port Authority wrote to Raytheon in 2012.

In another memo, the Port Authority blasted the contractor for software problems saying "This is unacceptable," and adding that Raytheon "cannot proceed until the software is corrected."

It is unclear if the problems have been fixed, but these recent security breaches seem to suggest they haven't. So Lucas Marte offered to help.

Marte: "Give me some money, and I will go and guard the fence, and I will make sure no one gets near the fence, not even a bird."

The Investigators' Jim Hoffer: "You can do better than these sensors?"

Marte: "I guess so."

The Port Authority says security at the airports is multi-layered and that in addition to the perimeter fence, they have police patrols and contract security guards. Several Port Authority sources have confirmed to Eyewitness News that the fences at all three major airports are plagued by false alarms.