It didn’t take long for the first TSA screw-up of 2013.
Security screeners allowed a woman to pass through a La Guardia checkpoint yesterday even after her purse triggered an alarm for a possible grenade.
Several hundred passengers were delayed because of the 6 a.m. boondoggle — including fliers who were taken off two planes to be rescreened in Terminal D, sources said.
The drama began when Transportation Security Administration screener Darrell Taylor saw what he thought was a hand grenade and alerted explosives specialist Harry Weissberger.
But for some reason a different bag — a black knapsack — was searched instead and the woman retrieved her bag and headed toward her American Airlines flight.
It took 34 minutes for TSA to alert the Port Authority about the potential threat. The security lane remained closed until 7:30 a.m.
PAPD cops eventually located the woman — and it turned out she was merely carrying a Ziplock bag full of coins. A TSA spokeswoman said, “Our concern is always about the safety of passengers, which is why we took preventive measures.”