Once the crew went out of hours, what happened ? Did they stay on the aircraft or did they leave and go to a hotel for their rest period, the intention being that at the end of this they would come back to the aircraft in the morning and restart, along with the pax who had been stuck on board all night. Who, if anyone, stayed with the pax ?
If there were no screeners available then how would the rested crew, or any relief crew, get back airside ?
Whatever the circumstances, the FAA should not be sitting on their hands. They should be looking at pulling ExpressJet's AOC for this. There seem to be half-a-dozen or more regs they could be picked up on in five minutes here, it's just a question of attitude.