I was meeting someone at SFO last week. As I stood waiting at the TSA checkpoint, I observed various crew members going to the head of the line and being screened.

I also observed one indivicual dressed in an airline uniform. He and his roll aboard walked down the exit lane. He stopped at the podium of a TSA guy in the exit lane, showed him something (ID, paperwork) then proceeded past the checkpoint without having his roll aboard screened, and without walking through any personal screening device.

I have never seen this before, anyone know why this guy had the privilege of avoiding the screening. It occurred to me that he may be one of the pilots with permission to carry a gun on board, but I would think he would have still been screened for explosives (e.g., liquids.)