Originally Posted by
wannagotoo
THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION!!
First, being that I had already done this a few weeks before, I asked for a swab since that is how the other airports handle it. It would not be allowed since they have the cast machine.
Second, when she said that it could only xray the cast, I showed her the bones in my hand and asked why it was peneterating that deep. For the parts of my arm that weren't covered by the cast you could DEFINITELY see the individual bones in my hand.
If someone was concerned about something being inside the fiberglass cast, there are parts of the cast that are more than 1/2 inch deep so the machine would not detect it? Also, I go through the metal detector with no beep. What more could I be hiding in a cast 7 inches long that someone couldn't hide in their pants pocket? It seemed to be one of those situations that if I wanted to get on the plane, I have to do the 4 x-rays.
Thanks again for all the responses. I will be following up with the recommendations you had. It seems the only safe solution is to get the cast off before the next LAX flight or change to a different airport.
There are things that could be hidden in fiberglass casts or other places that might escape the type of imaging described. I will not go into details for obvious reasons, but I assume that anyone with a modicum of brains, and a minimum of knowledge of imaging physics could figure it out, and probably have. So this is yet another example of the TSA doing something for show, with little or zero increase in security and due to complacency, possibly a net decrease in security. Good luck.