Originally Posted by
FlyingUnderTheRadar
Last week I flew SLC->SFO->NRT->GUM. At SFO my bags got pulled for inspection before going on to the plane for NRT. Well sorta, they never made the flight because of WX in SFO our connection was tight - was suppose to be two hours but was less than an hour. One of three bags made it but two others did not. I digress on that hell.
But this is the first time I have had bags reinspected before an international flight. It makes no sense to me as to why bags would be reinspected after their initial inspection at the point of origin.
Anyone out there know any more about this TSA enhancement? It is one thing to plan to be at the airport with plenty of time for their initial inspection but how the hell should one plan connecting flights if bags are going to be inspected at a stop over?
BTW - I know the bags were pulled in SFO because of the TSA notices which had the SFO inspectors id on them plus other info related to SFO.
The security at SFO is
not TSA, it is a private contractor. The screeners wear uniforms that look similar to those that the TSA uses, but the screeners do not work for TSA. As such, they might have slightly different procedures/standards for inspection. It is common to screen more thoroughly the checked baggage of departing international passengers. Perhaps some official decided to screen everyone's bags on the SFO-NRT segment. Or perhaps they screened a sampling, of which your bags were included? No way of knowing. I wouldn't worry about it.