STBCypriot

You can't really believe that? Do you think that someone trained in the management of hazardous materials actually disposes of those items in a safe and environmentally-compliant manner. Though I can'T SAY I've witnessed it, I would bet real money that those bins of half-full bottles are just thrown away as regular trash with no screening for hazardous substances whatsoever.

SeriouslyLost

More to the point, the technology to test the contents in less than 30 seconds exists (& has done for 2+ decades in portable airport-friendly forms) and renders the whole "liquids aren't safe" argument moot. Except that that would mean TSA would have to give up one part of their theatre act, which is why we're stuck with rules devised by imbeciles.

Flaflyer

LOL You are worried about Liability? For a Government that is self insured and exempt from many liability issues?

The bottle of water is confiscated because it is too dangerous to allow on an aircraft. Your SOP is to throw it in an open trashcan next to you. If it is a real bomb and explodes, injuring a few one stripe TSOs, isn’t that a REAL Liability issue for the TSA? Your SOP tells you to dispose of hazmat in an unsafe manner.

Shouldn’t TSA Risk Management and your Union Safety Rep be screaming about disposing of Dangerous Czit in an open trashcan next to you?

mikeef

I offered to open the bottle and pour out the liquid.

Had the bottle contained ethyl mercaptan, wouldn't the TSA would have been equally liable if they had returned the bottle to open outside the secure area?

You're not crazy. In fact, that's the reason that I brought this incident up here. We all deal with inane policies every day, but usually, I can think of the "security" reason behind it. I couldn't figure this one out.

BTW, Boston Do at the end of January. Take a look in my sig and let me know if any of those dates work for you.

Mike

Schmurrr

Would that logic not also apply to 3-oz bottles that TSA allows through the checkpoint and are opened by the traveler on the secure side?

Himeno

They also don't want to pay a Japanese company for the machines and would rather spend much more having some US company try to do it.

spd476

Last month at DFW, there were a bunch of garbage/recyclable cans before the line to the TDC. I think it was terminal D and it was right after leaving customs. I thought I saw one container that encouraged people to pour their liquids into it. I could be wrong but the way the top funneled down to a small opening, I'm not sure what else it would be used for. I guess since it is located before the TDC, the TSA wouldn't be liable if somebody happened with that container.

chollie

More specifically, they don't care who manufactures the machines (the cheaper the better), as long as the patents and profits all come back to certain US folks.

jfunk138

I know from experience that the TSA detection rate of water bottles is less than 100%. I'm sure some scary bad guys also realize this. In the event a scary bad guy wanted to bring nasty water looking stuff through security, he just has to be patient.

If they detect his water bottle, they toss it in the bin, he boards his flight, better luck next time.

He repeats this process until they don't detect it. Then he unleashes whatever tool of destruction that the theatre script writers would have us believe a water bottle might unleash.

FliesWay2Much

Think I figured it out:

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Yesterday while flying out of ABQ where it is hot I forgot to empty my water bottle before running the gauntlet. As such, while going through the PreCheck line my carry on got side tracked. As soon as that happened I remembered. Duh on my part. When the TSO asked about it, I said it is mine and I forgot to finish my water. I asked if I could just dump the water so I could refill the bootle later. Nope, not there I had to exit security and do that. So I exited and right by the line entrance there was a garbage bin. Dump water, back in line, and through in 2 minutes.

So the lunacy is that on the sterile side of the gauntlet the water had to stay in the bottle. On the non-sterile side of the gauntlet the water could be free roaming. On both sides are where people gather. Ah the lunacy of the TSA.

gfunkdave

That's how it's always been. Your water is too dangerous to be allowed on the plane, but not so dangerous we can't just throw it (and everyone else's) in a trash can at the security checkpoint.

TWA884

Indeed it has been.

I've merged @FlyingUnderTheRadar's post and your response into an existing thread about forcing travelers to exit the screening area to dispose of the water.

Then, there is another thread where the OP observed the screener disposing of the water in the secured area.
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Malarky ... If TSA gives me back my bottle of high explosive water, walks me out of the sterile zone, where I immediately dump the contents all over the first question is going to be "Why did the TSA allow such a dangerous liquid back into the general area?"

Also, TSA allows people to surrender prohibited objects without exiting the sterile area. I am surrendering the water not the container.

Thanks for merging my post. For some reason I thought there was a similar thread - I just could not remember it even though I posted to it some three plus years ago.

petaluma1

TSA takes no responsibility for what happens in the general area.