iirc the article they says entered security 35 minutes before departure. iirc it doesnt say when they checked in or when they arrived at the airport.
so with a desk deadline of 40 minutes, the general principal should be that this should be sufficient time to pass through security.
if it isnt they should make the deadline longer.
however, i know from personal experience that i have done check in area to gate 1 in 6 minutes - but i was late, i was rushing, i was not one of the passengers involved in the incident cited in the article, in my incident it was mid sunday afternoon and there was no one else in the queue at security.
in my incident i had checked in online so went straight to security rather than going to a desk. the general point i make still stands