stuffy

So I'm dropping off my niece, an unaccompanied minor, at the JetBlue gate. She is the last person to board when out of the jetway come two undercover TSA agents flashing their badges at the gate agents.

They had snuck onboard and had been waiting to be discovered!

Which never happened!!

After giving the gate agents a 30 second tongue lashing the TSA agents walked away.

That's it???!!!

KRSW

Yep. That's it. The airline will probably get fined, etc., etc., etc. In all likelihood, they probably snuck in from the ramp, hid in the lav or blended in like pax. Keep in mind it's TSA who is supposed to keep the ramp "sterile"

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Yeah, I would be very curious to know their route to the plane.

stuffy

From the bits of conversation I heard, it sounded like the TSA agents slipped in behind the gate agent's back. The TSA agents were pointing to a 2' gap between a crowd control stanchion and the wall. I'm guessing it happened during boarding.

When the TSA agents left, the gate agent went and moved the stanchion up against the wall.

In my head I'm thinking, that's what's keeping us safe??!! A stanchion??

petaluma1

But, but, but TSA screens everyone at the gate so what's the problem? Remember the older woman who got on flights several times without a ticket? The TSA claimed it wasn't a security problem because she had been thoroughly screened.

Do the actions you witnessed mean that TSA is fearful of people sneaking on board without going through screening? How could that possibly be with TSA on the job? If they are fearful of that, why are they not doing random screenings throughout the "sterile" area? Is the "sterile" area, really "sterile?"

Section 107

no, the sterile area is not at all sterile. None of the materials that go to vendors is screened at all. Lots of stuff could be packaged in magazine/newspaper bundles, candy boxes, #10 cans of tomatoes, cases of lettuce, stuffed animals, etc..... enjoy!

petaluma1

But, but, but they've all had background checks!!!!!

Anudoric

Airline will receive a warning or fine/letter of investigation.

I always catch my TSIs. It helps that my gate is set up so that you have to brush shoulders with me to get through

ScatterX

If a sterile somebody sneaks from the sterile area on to the plane, that is purely a business matter. There is no security risk in this scenario. If somebody is in the sterile area that is not sterile, that is TSA's security failure.

TSA should go f*** itself.

* (fine)

teevee

maybe they should implement the system in place at SIN.

Himeno

You mean firing TSA and bringing over the SIN screeners to replace them?

petaluma1

How often do they try?

KDS

Sounds like more mission creep; after all, TSA ensures that only ticketed passengers get to the "secure" area (monetary preservation), so I'm sure TSA thinks it's a natural extension to ensure only the right ticketed passengers get on the right plane.

This is complete nonsense from the TSA.

Bishop84

Do you mean removing central screening and going to screening at the gate? Can you imagine how many extra TSA staff that they would say they need.

I understand that when AMS goes to central screening nearly a 1/3 of screeners will no longer be required.

justhere

Not exactly but you are close. The TSA makes sure that only people authorized to be in the sterile area get in the sterile area and that they are screened. You could have people with gate passes, airport employees, etc, so not everyone is ticketed. How effective they are at screening is a different conversation.

They don't care if the right ticketed passenger gets on the right plane. What they care about, and this thread just proves it, is generating income for the TSA through fines.

They sneak on to the aircraft without a boarding pass so that they can catch the airline not following its own security procedures and then issue a fine. The problem with their scenario, as has been pointed out here, is that they were already in the sterile area. So anyone that wants to get on a plane with the intent of causing harm has already gone to the trouble of making sure they can get through security. There is no need for them to sneak on to the plane, they have a boarding pass.

What's somewhat troubling about this, other than the stupidity of the TSA, is that by doing what they are doing, they are putting peoples jobs in jeopardy. The GA that didn't catch them may face discipline and possibly termination. I have no idea what JetBlue's policies are but there's no reason to think that there isn't some accountability for the GA. Yes, the GA should be making sure that no one gets on the plane that isn't supposed to for a variety of reasons but to put their job in jeopardy just to produce TSA revenue is shameful IMHO.