RatherBeOnATrain

An informative piece over on Jaunted.com, putting the uproar over liquid checks into perspective:

Jaunted.com:
New TSA Liquid Checks Trigger National Freakout, for Some Reason
July 6, 2012 at 3:58 PM

A short quote:

When a blogger figured out how to defeat TSA's million-dollar scanners and posted the proof to YouTube, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters that she literally hadn't heard about it. When a report by DHS's inspector general uncovered systematic TSA security breaches and issued a report, officials from the airport security agency told Congress that fixing things would take a while.

But spill one dead guy's ashes all over security at the end of a very bad PR month, and suddenly there are new rules on top of damage control on top of new rules. And to think, some critics suggest that TSA responds faster to public relations issues than they do to security issues!

WillCAD

My flying habits are pretty well set in stone. I carry a Brita water bottle with me, hanging from my carry-on, but I rarely drink from it in the terminal. But I often fly out early in the morning and wind up grabbing some arterial congealant at the Burger King or other fast food purveyor inside security. When I do this, I always sit in the food court area to finish it, including the beverage, and throw the cup away before I make my way to the gate.

Thus, I rarely have anything liquid other than my Brita bottle when I'm at the gate, so I'll probably never get approached by these goons with PH testing strips masquerading as explosives detectors.

Now, I'd really, really love to be approached by one at the food court while I'm chewing my heart attack sandwich. I'm a cheapskate, but I'd sacrifice half my breakfast; I'd wrap up the sandwich and throw the whole breakfast, including the beverage cup, into the trash.

"Sure, go ahead. It's in there."

phillychuck

I don't think this is true. I haven't done a complete scan, but it looks like a number of potential vapor phase detection schemes are available.

Caradoc

None of which involve waving paper strips over an open container.

FliesWay2Much

I don't know about anyone else, but, I don't want a penny of my tax dollars to go for "extra" layers of security.

TBD

So - wouldn't a would-be terrorist just put their bottle of _____ (that they somehow got through security) in their carry on? TSA won't check what they don't see, right?

Ugh. This is so dumb.

Pesky Monkey

We need to create a new urban dictionary term for idiotic which is "TSA".

"Dude, that guy's wiping before he poops" .
"That's friggin TSA".

Seat1A

i finally had a TSA blog comment censored! apparently "or is this make-work program just a way to turn Thousands Standing Around into a Test Strip Army?" wasn't a big hit with the blog team...

Xyzzy

I refused to participate in this nonsense SEA a couple of years ago, while seated at a gate in the north satellite. They weren't sure what to do about my refusal and went off to ask a supervisr what do do. In the interim, I finished my drink. They ended up playing the DYW2FT game with me and I let them test my empty cup. (Original thread here)

TheGolfWidow

I don't watch TV, so I obviously missed the news report about the flight that was taken down by a passenger's empty styrofoam cup.

dan1431

I realize that expecting a front line TSA employee to understanding chemical engineering is a little much, but where does common sense come into play? Clearly, TSA has had to at least consult with a chemical engineer and with his/her help have made a determination regarding liquids and how they change molecularly under different circumstances, so is this just a case of poorly explaining what they are looking for to their front line people and allowing the front line people to run wild in the guise of keeping us safe?

As a side note, what I would love to know is, if I am consuming it (the potentially dangerous liquid), what good is it as a weapon?

Wouldn't my bodies metabolism of the given suspicious liquid change its molecular structure enough to render the potentially harmful substance useless?

Dan

saulblum

Why do you assume that?

Smiths Detection (or the like) lobbyist: There have been several liquids-based plot to bring down planes. Clearly this is a threat the TSA must mitigate. We have these strips here, where if you wave them over a bottle and drop some water on it, they tell you whether you are dealing with a terrorist.

John Pistole: Ooh, we have too many TSOs but we can't let Congress know, or else they may cut our staffing budget. We could give these strips to TSOs to test passengers' drinks before they board. Deal!

mahohmei

I'm going to go out on a very, very long limb here. I've said for a long time that getting Evil Liquid airside would be incredibly easy: open up a plastic 20 oz. Coke bottle, empty and wash it, fill it with my Evil Liquid, cap it with a differently-colored cap (like the yellow caps on real-sugar Cokes during passover), and get my buddy who works for an airside restaurant to wheel it in hidden in the middle of a bunch of flats of Coke. I go into the restaurant, ask for a Coke, and my buddy hands me my "special Coke" with my Evil Liquid in it.

Now, I know there are Roaming Liquid Inspectors (RLIs), and let's assume here that they have test equipment that will actually detect the evilness in my liquid and save the day. I'm not going to be carrying around my Evil Liquid in my hand. I'm going to stuff it in my backpack; therefore, the RLIs will never even see it.

(Question: I've never been a victim of a gate search. Do TS"O"s do Liquid Tests or make people surrender liquid during gate searches?)

T.J. Bender

I have witnessed a TSO go ballistic because someone had their personal water bottle full during a gate check. The TSO was demanding to know how the pax got it through security and asking if the passenger wanted to fly today. Apparently, the concept of carrying it through empty then filling it up at a water fountain is completely foreign to them.

I've also had a TSO at SNA do a gate search of my laptop bag, during which he found a non-aerosol hand sanitizer spray. He asked if I'd had it out in a separate bag during checkpoint screening. When I asked what business it was of his, he replied that he would have to confiscate it if it hadn't been properly screened, then asked again. My reply was, "Sure, whatever," and he just put it back into my bag and sent me on my way.

FliesWay2Much

I'll go out on a longer limb and assert that the best way to get Evil Liquid on an airplane is to simply bribe a clerk or two.