Candy shuts down checkpoint
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
#17
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LGA - JFK
Programs: UA, AA, DL, B6, CX, KE, Latitude, VIFP, Crown & Anchor, etc.
Posts: 2,589
BTW, the bucks stop where ?? Leadership and accountablility begin at the top, so ....
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,335
Good riddance to TSA at GRR!!
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 28,129
+1 perhaps it was mistaken as an iPod clone with a questionable battery? We all know that lots of them are produced & branded overseas, and, OMG, those might explode. Just a matter of time before we read about a full scale Hazmat mobilization response and Terminal Evacuation, etc.
BTW, the bucks stop where ?? Leadership and accountablility begin at the top, so ....
BTW, the bucks stop where ?? Leadership and accountablility begin at the top, so ....
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,644
Running away from the scene of a bomb treat, away from the area where the TSA told you to wait? That's a terrible idea. The TSA did not tell people that they were being held next to a bomb, so running away from the area would be a clear indication that you know about the threat and should be held for questioning.
The sad thing is I don't even know if this calls for a ... so it's really a and .
Heck, I can even see how a paranoid TSA employee would consider a passenger pulling out a cell phone a threat (might be trying to remote-detonate the device). So no, without more info, I would not put blame on the passengers.
The sad thing is I don't even know if this calls for a ... so it's really a and .
Heck, I can even see how a paranoid TSA employee would consider a passenger pulling out a cell phone a threat (might be trying to remote-detonate the device). So no, without more info, I would not put blame on the passengers.
I have no doubt that someone will soon be along to tell us that they have SSI about this incident and that it was a real threat.
Mike
#22
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LGA - JFK
Programs: UA, AA, DL, B6, CX, KE, Latitude, VIFP, Crown & Anchor, etc.
Posts: 2,589
#23
In Memoriam
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
Sorry, my bad for saying run to the counter. I forget that some people here take everything totally literally.
One of the people waiting in line, not those who were told to wait in the area 20 feet away, should have slowly turned without making any sudden motions or loud noises, or reaching into their pockets, turned and walked at a normal pace back to the counter and asked they hold the planes because of the delay.
Though I also feel if a 20 minute delay at security will cause you to miss your flight, you are not getting to the airport early enough. The passenger with the candy though was able to make their flight.
One of the people waiting in line, not those who were told to wait in the area 20 feet away, should have slowly turned without making any sudden motions or loud noises, or reaching into their pockets, turned and walked at a normal pace back to the counter and asked they hold the planes because of the delay.
Though I also feel if a 20 minute delay at security will cause you to miss your flight, you are not getting to the airport early enough. The passenger with the candy though was able to make their flight.
#24
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,972
Agreed, but a 20 minute closure doesn't necessarily mean a 20 minute delay. It sounds like they cleared away the line so that people had to queue up again. The person with the candy just had the 20 minute delay, but others had a 20 minute delay plus the line length, which could easily have been 30-40 minutes. That's a hour delay.
Last edited by RichardKenner; Dec 29, 2011 at 9:40 am
#25
In Memoriam
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
The flight was scheduled to leave at 12:35. The checkpoint was closed just after noon, which means that when they closed the checkpoint, she had not yet cleared security.
This woman who missed the flight and posting about it all over the place I feel did not leave enough time to get to the gate. I don't feel that getting to the checkpoint with less than 30 minutes to flight time is enough time, even without the candy bomb.
Even if she was the first person back in line once they started screening again at 12:30, she still would have missed the 12:35 flight.
This woman who missed the flight and posting about it all over the place I feel did not leave enough time to get to the gate. I don't feel that getting to the checkpoint with less than 30 minutes to flight time is enough time, even without the candy bomb.
Even if she was the first person back in line once they started screening again at 12:30, she still would have missed the 12:35 flight.
#26
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
This incident occurred at GRR.
#27
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: where the chile is hot
Programs: AA,RR,NW,Delta ,UA,CO
Posts: 41,714
#28
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: Delta Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Priority Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 93
The TSA has no power to detain a passenger. You may not be allowed to proceed to your gate until they've determined the suspicious item is not a threat -- but you can certainly make a decision not to wait in an area designated by the TSA -- and walk away in the opposite direction.
Faced with such a situation, I'd depart the area and head back to the ticket counter if I really thought that I would miss a flight.
Actually, I have departed a screening checkpoint -- after screening had begun -- and returned to the Delta counter to be re-booked when the local "blue shirt" and I disagreed on the screening procedure at IND.
Delta was very understanding and re-booked me for a different flight and recommended / gave suggestions to enter another checkpoint in order to evade the same "blue shirt' again.
It worked -- and worked quite well.
Faced with such a situation, I'd depart the area and head back to the ticket counter if I really thought that I would miss a flight.
Actually, I have departed a screening checkpoint -- after screening had begun -- and returned to the Delta counter to be re-booked when the local "blue shirt" and I disagreed on the screening procedure at IND.
Delta was very understanding and re-booked me for a different flight and recommended / gave suggestions to enter another checkpoint in order to evade the same "blue shirt' again.
It worked -- and worked quite well.
#29
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: where the chile is hot
Programs: AA,RR,NW,Delta ,UA,CO
Posts: 41,714
The TSA has no power to detain a passenger. You may not be allowed to proceed to your gate until they've determined the suspicious item is not a threat -- but you can certainly make a decision not to wait in an area designated by the TSA -- and walk away in the opposite direction.
Faced with such a situation, I'd depart the area and head back to the ticket counter if I really thought that I would miss a flight.
Actually, I have departed a screening checkpoint -- after screening had begun -- and returned to the Delta counter to be re-booked when the local "blue shirt" and I disagreed on the screening procedure at IND.
Delta was very understanding and re-booked me for a different flight and recommended / gave suggestions to enter another checkpoint in order to evade the same "blue shirt' again.
It worked -- and worked quite well.
Faced with such a situation, I'd depart the area and head back to the ticket counter if I really thought that I would miss a flight.
Actually, I have departed a screening checkpoint -- after screening had begun -- and returned to the Delta counter to be re-booked when the local "blue shirt" and I disagreed on the screening procedure at IND.
Delta was very understanding and re-booked me for a different flight and recommended / gave suggestions to enter another checkpoint in order to evade the same "blue shirt' again.
It worked -- and worked quite well.
LAX keeps having some kind of exercise where everyone is told to freeze and not move until the all-clear is sounded. I don't know what would happen if someone kept on walking, but I suspect TSA would get LE involved.
#30
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards. Tha... that's about it.
Posts: 4,332
As ralfp pointed out, leaving the checkpoint in this situation might not have been a great idea. TSA already assumes all pax are guilty of something. In this case, TSA might have assumed a pax leaving a checkpoint was involved with the candy. All TSA has to do to detain a pax is summon a LEO.
LAX keeps having some kind of exercise where everyone is told to freeze and not move until the all-clear is sounded. I don't know what would happen if someone kept on walking, but I suspect TSA would get LE involved.
LAX keeps having some kind of exercise where everyone is told to freeze and not move until the all-clear is sounded. I don't know what would happen if someone kept on walking, but I suspect TSA would get LE involved.