Originally Posted by
gsoltso
“TSA allows for a pat-down of a teenage passenger, and in this case, all approved procedures were followed to resolve an alarm of the passenger’s laptop,” spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in an email.
Again, the laptop alarmed.
"Alarmed" in what sense? It was in his carry-on bag, which went through the x-ray scanner. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the carry-on x-ray scanners at the c/p a manual viewing device? They don't "alarm" as the WTMD and WBI do - the operator sees something he can't resolve visually and refers to item for hand inspection, which typically consists of unpacking the bag, visually inspecting the contents, and swabbing the entire contents (plus the bag itself) and running the swab through the ETD.
Did the bag then get referred for a hand search, which subsequently caused an alarm on the ETD? If so, how does anyone know that the LAPTOP alarmed, and not something else in the bag? DId the TSO conducting the inspection swab JUST the laptop and put the swab in the ETD? Or did he follow standard procedure and swab the laptop, the bag, and all of the bag's contents, before putting the swab into the ETD?
And even if the laptop - or the bag, or the bag's other contents - did indeed alarm the ETD, why did that trigger a full-body rubdown on the kid himself, rather than a simple, quick, easy, and non-invasive hand swab?
Or is this simply a case where "alarmed" means "failure to follow instructions on the passenger's part constitutes an alarm on TSA's part"?