hkgerry

Like many other FTers, I keep my liquids, toothpaste etc in a robust closeable clear plastic pouch exactly complying with global security standards. Fast Track T5 dialogue yesterday goes as follows:
Them. .You must take your things out of your plastic bag and put them in our plastic bag
Me..why- my bag is exactly the same dimensions as your plastic bag
Them....don't try and be clever
Me... I'm not trying to be difficult I just want to know why as I've used this bag for many years around the world
Them....your bag is not airtight whereas ours are
Me.... Lost for words as this was so patently untrue and absurd....being cunning I had their plastic bag already inside my plastic bag so took it out... Honour satisfied.
Any FTer with a Physics Degree capable of explaining this?

haasha

There are things which cannot be explained and airline so-called security is one of them.

simonrp84

You should have inflated your bag and then stamped on it. The resulting loud bang would surely satisfy the security drones that your bag was indeed airtight.
Plus - airport security love sudden loud noises, right?

Land-of-Miles

I haven't encountered this at T5 before but it is a regular feature at T3.

The BAA security staff have been instructed to deposit everything in their own bag to ensure that it is completely airtight. One of the outcomes of the initial security screening triggered either at random or due to what is seen on the scanner is to perform an electronic "sniff" test of the contents of the liquid bag. The rationale for this should be obvious. However the accuracy of this test depends entirely upon the bag containing the liquids being airtight. Small tears or perforations in the bag can impact the test. the only way to be sure the bag is completely airtight is to use a brand new one supplied by BAA.

That is the explanation I have had when I asked nicely. I have no reason to disbelieve it and it does have clear internal logic.

msm2000uk

Wrong type of air in the bag.

Kgmm77

Needless to say the DfT rules make no mention of the word airtight, referring instead to the word "resealable".

LondonElite

They're such a bunch of to55ers it really irritates me. I've had the airtight line from them too, and I tell them that there is no way all of my important toiletries can fit into sme crappy little plastic bag. Then I look for one of the ladies for emotional support.

Land-of-Miles

But if a specific test agreed by the DfT with a specific airport requires an airtight bag it isn't unreasonable that there is an insistence on an airtight bag is it? I guess you could interpret sealable to mean airtight too couldn't you?

I don't know if any of this is true as above, it does seem plausible however. The bag that is supplied is the correct maximum dimensions isn't it? So if your stuff wont fit in it then there is possibly a bigger problem.

I have taken to leaving all my liquid items in the BAA supplied plastic bag which I keep within my robust toiletry bag. This makes it easy to empty into a new bag if required.

Since BAA isn't charging for the plastic bags (unlike some other airport operators) I really don't see any sinister plot here.

Geordie405

It wasn't a short female supervisor with short hair and officious attitude giving you the Nth degree was it? She's the only one I've had bother with at T5

HIDDY

Why did you have the 'official bag' inside another bag?

hillrider

T5's security theater is the worse.

My solution is to simply hide my personal liquids bag under my jacket onto the tray and if the guard with no customer service skills and no common sense asks if I have any liquids, I simply say no. The X-ray operator gets a clear view of my liquids, which is the main goal of the whole procedure and its only truly security-related task, and everyone is happy, including the guard who didn't have to intervene/argue with me about the shape/size of my sturdy clear plastic bag.

Oh, the theatrics of the whole thing! But why do they have to be so shockingly rude at T5 (and pretty much only there in my experience?)

HIDDY

Funny....they say the same about us.

BalbC

There's no logic to it. If a plastic bag can be so airtight as to catch volatile fluids in the few minutes between transferring into it and a sniff test, then one would assume a liquid container in the bag could be also so airtight to prevent release of anything that the machine could sniff out.

Ian_M

If the whole security system is buggered up by a hole in a plastic bag, we really need to keep it quiet.

Honestly, I think the way it actually works is the same way as Van Halen's no brown m&m rider, it's an easy way for security to see if you're compliant. It's got nothing to do with reducing the risk of an incident.

ba_cityflyer

Bonkers.