This one you can't hang on the TSA

They're just a convenient scapegoat for Continental to divert blame from the plane left on the runway all night. [Link]

Now comes this word from Continental:
"We are working closely with ExpressJet to resolve the issues surrounding this extended delay as service provided to customers on this flight was completely unacceptable. We are apologizing to our customers and will be offering them a full ticket refund and a certificate good for future travel."
The plane, which left Houston about 9:30 p.m. Friday, arrived in Rochester about midnight, and passengers weren't allowed to leave the plane until 6 a.m. Saturday.
One alternative that night, chartering a bus, couldn't be worked out. And letting the passengers into the Rochester airport was not possible, ExpressJet said, because they would have to go through security screening again, and the screeners had gone home for the day.
ExpressJet spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said the passengers could have entered the terminal only "if we had resources to allow the customers to deplane safely and were able to comply with federal regulations." Nicholas added that "upon arrival of TSA [security personnel] ... at approximately 6 a.m. Central, the customers were allowed to deplane the aircraft."
However, Rochester airport manager Steven Leqve disagreed today, saying that while screeners had gone home for the night, passengers could have "come into a secure area of the building."

The TSA has a dissenting opinion. [Link]

Earlier today, there were media reports that led some to believe TSA regulations prevented the passengers from deplaning.

TSA does not make decisions on whether or not passengers can deplane. We do however have the ability to recall our officers and open a checkpoint at the request of an airline or airport. No requests were made by ExpressJet on Friday or Saturday. The checkpoint resumed normal operations at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Also, passengers did not need to be screened or rescreened to deplane and re-board as long as they didn’t exit past the checkpoint and leave the non-screened sterile area of the airport.