CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A security breach compromised Charlotte-Douglas International Airport early Friday.

A man who bypassed security screening still has not been found. Airport officials had said they believed the man managed to make it on a flight and leave, but those flights were checked and the man is still unaccounted for.

The Transportation Security Administration noticed at 7:55 a.m. that the man had slipped past screeners sometime earlier that morning. The security point was closed just after the breach was discovered and outbound flights were halted for about an hour.

During that time, fliers inside the airport were unaware of the security breach. They told Eyewitness News the situation and the delays were an unwelcome surprise.

“I travel every week on planes for my business. If this is going to happen, keep happening, then they need to change the security,” said Rusty Hughes.

The incident unnerved Declan O'Beoine as he prepared to fly.

“It makes you nervous as to what's going on and the procedures that TSA employs here in Charlotte,” he said.

TSA Spokesman Jon Allen said officials searched about 15 planes on the ground and shut down Concourse C, said agency spokesman Jon Allen. Police even searched the bathrooms for the man.

Allen said 12 other flights left the airport prior to the search. Those planes were reverse-screened when they landed, he said.

TSA spokesman Chris White said the planes went to La Guardia in New York; Baltimore; Windsor Locks, Conn.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; Indianapolis; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Los Angeles; Boston; San Diego; Philadelphia; St. Louis; and Washington.

The flights all landed without incident, and TSA officials did not find the man on board any of them.

"We're investigating what happened and it's too soon to say whether there was malicious intent or whether it was someone who was confused and passed the security screening," Allen said.

TSA officials now say they don’t know what happened to the man. White said late Friday afternoon the TSA is no longer searching for him and speculated he may have simply walked out of the Charlotte airport.

Officials said they are doing a “post mortem” where they are watching surveillance video from inside the airport, interviewing witnesses and security workers and reconstructing what happened. Officials said then they will review their response to the incident and decide whether anything should have been done differently.

Officials said they are not only reviewing the incident as part of a criminal investigation, but also to make sure they did everything possible to keep flights on schedule.

The airport experienced delays of up to an hour, but were no widespread back-ups since operations both inside and outside began running normally shortly after the security breach.