Bombs
Jul 5, 2013 | 10:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Colorado
Programs: TSA
Posts: 2,745
Jul 5, 2013 | 10:48 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newport Beach, California, USA
Posts: 36,062
BTW, when was it you guys finally started inspecting all air cargo that is boarded on commercial aircraft?
Jul 6, 2013 | 5:20 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Pure propaganda and fear-mongering on the part of the TSA. No, it's not "rare access" to CNN. They disseminate similar videos such as this and try to get the public to believe that all their clerks get this type of training. Completely untrue.
The explosive that could fit in the end of the barrel of a ball point pen? Guess where else that explosive could fit that the TSA would never find.
The explosive that could fit in the end of the barrel of a ball point pen? Guess where else that explosive could fit that the TSA would never find.
Jul 6, 2013 | 5:31 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Lots of stuff blows up. Some rather spectacularly.
And no, my hearing impairment is not from blowing stuff up.
Jul 6, 2013 | 5:41 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Here's more "rare" (or in this case, "exclusive") footage of explosives training:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=9008885
and more
http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/...z/-/index.html
(This one has some verbiage, Ink, but not a transcript)
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=9008885
and more
http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/...z/-/index.html
(This one has some verbiage, Ink, but not a transcript)
Jul 6, 2013 | 7:11 am
#8
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards. Tha... that's about it.
Posts: 4,430
Point taken. Boom bad. No boom allowed on plane.
So, TSA employees get a lovely demonstration of how powerful explosives can be. Useful to drive the point home, I suppose, since anyone who has no military or civilian explosives experience doesn't necessarily know exactly how powerful various explosives are in the wild.
Does this training include an explanation of the concept of cross-contamination, so TSOs know that they can swab just one item in a bag, not every little piece, to test for explosives residue?
Does this training include mention of the fact that there is no liquid explosive that can be mixed airside or airborne without laboratory conditions that has the slightest prayer of bringing down a plane?
Does this training include more extensive instruction in the detection and recognition of explosives, i.e. the ability to tell whether you're looking at C4, toothpaste, or cake frosting?
Does this training provide any actual training at all, or is it simply a testosterone-fueled demonstration of various things that go boom?
So, TSA employees get a lovely demonstration of how powerful explosives can be. Useful to drive the point home, I suppose, since anyone who has no military or civilian explosives experience doesn't necessarily know exactly how powerful various explosives are in the wild.
Does this training include an explanation of the concept of cross-contamination, so TSOs know that they can swab just one item in a bag, not every little piece, to test for explosives residue?
Does this training include mention of the fact that there is no liquid explosive that can be mixed airside or airborne without laboratory conditions that has the slightest prayer of bringing down a plane?
Does this training include more extensive instruction in the detection and recognition of explosives, i.e. the ability to tell whether you're looking at C4, toothpaste, or cake frosting?
Does this training provide any actual training at all, or is it simply a testosterone-fueled demonstration of various things that go boom?
Jul 6, 2013 | 7:34 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 555
I'm hearing impaired and captions don't work. I tried to find transcript. Someone provide a summary please. Looks like old guys blowing stuff up. Sounds like fun. We used to do this as kids before so many people got their panties in a bunch over explosives.
Lots of stuff blows up. Some rather spectacularly.
And no, my hearing impairment is not from blowing stuff up.
Lots of stuff blows up. Some rather spectacularly.
And no, my hearing impairment is not from blowing stuff up.
Ink, after each explosion the blond exclaims about how big the boom was. In the airport scenes, she explains how the big booms are why the brave checkpoint clerks have to do what they do. The entire commentary (if you can call it commentary) can be summed up in one sentence: "This is what happens when you blow up stuff, so this is why we don't want the Bad Guys to get explosives on a plane."
Pathetic.
~~ Irish
Jul 6, 2013 | 7:40 am
#10
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: DL Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,777
I can think of only one way a TSO could determine. By tasting and confiscating the cake frosting out of an abundance of caution
Point taken. Boom bad. No boom allowed on plane........Does this training include more extensive instruction in the detection and recognition of explosives, i.e. the ability to tell whether you're looking at [B]C4, toothpaste[B], or cake frosting?
Does this training provide any actual training at all, or is it simply a testosterone-fueled demonstration of various things that go boom?
Does this training provide any actual training at all, or is it simply a testosterone-fueled demonstration of various things that go boom?
Jul 6, 2013 | 8:37 am
#11
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2012
Programs: A3, AA. Plasticy things! That give me, y'know, Stuff!
Posts: 6,293
Looking at the average TSA employee that is exactly what they've been doing. Extensively. Ghods, they risk so much for us! Heart disease, diabetes, gout...
Jul 6, 2013 | 8:43 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: An NPR mind living in a Fox News world
Posts: 14,343
We had "bomb day" one year as part of our in-service training (local police department). While the boys ate up the testosterone rush, I found the training to be a big waste of time. Everyone knows what bombs do and what the impact is. I hope that this is not an example of what TSA considers quality training.
It's better than average training. They got to go on a field trip!
What would be far more useful training would be classes on how to actually find dangerous items but more relevant, how to use common sense to differentiate between dangerous and non dangerous items. How to use common sense when applying the rules and how to properly handle dangerous items when they are found.
Remember -- this is security theater. This time, the TSA clerks were the audience rather than the American public.
As mentioned in a previous thread, TSA has been known to confiscate liquids and gels which would have fit neatly into a one quart bag but were instead in a one gallon bag (taking up less than a quarter of it). Common sense: how does a tube of toothpaste go from innocuous to dangerous when placed in a different sized bag.
Same thing -- security theater.
Now, assuming that the toothpaste has indeed been properly identified as dangerous and possibly explosive, why is it tossed so casually in the trashcan at the checkpoint. If anyone truly thought for even one second that a confiscated gel or liquid was dangerous, the area should be evacuated, the bomb squad should be called in and the explosive should be isolated for a controlled detonation.
Same thing -- security theater.
So, you either think my item is an explosive or not. which is it?
It's better than average training. They got to go on a field trip!
What would be far more useful training would be classes on how to actually find dangerous items but more relevant, how to use common sense to differentiate between dangerous and non dangerous items. How to use common sense when applying the rules and how to properly handle dangerous items when they are found.
Remember -- this is security theater. This time, the TSA clerks were the audience rather than the American public.
As mentioned in a previous thread, TSA has been known to confiscate liquids and gels which would have fit neatly into a one quart bag but were instead in a one gallon bag (taking up less than a quarter of it). Common sense: how does a tube of toothpaste go from innocuous to dangerous when placed in a different sized bag.
Same thing -- security theater.
Now, assuming that the toothpaste has indeed been properly identified as dangerous and possibly explosive, why is it tossed so casually in the trashcan at the checkpoint. If anyone truly thought for even one second that a confiscated gel or liquid was dangerous, the area should be evacuated, the bomb squad should be called in and the explosive should be isolated for a controlled detonation.
Same thing -- security theater.
So, you either think my item is an explosive or not. which is it?
On another note, I wonder if this was a TSA fluff piece that they shopped around the mainstream media until they found a taker or if it was one of those government propaganda clips made to look like a news story? I found her LinkedIn page. She's a local DC freelance reporter for CNN Newsource. She hasn't been a salaried employee of any legitimate news organization since 2009. I smell a rat -- a TSA rat.
Jul 6, 2013 | 8:44 am
#13
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Ink, after each explosion the blond exclaims about how big the boom was. In the airport scenes, she explains how the big booms are why the brave checkpoint clerks have to do what they do. The entire commentary (if you can call it commentary) can be summed up in one sentence: "This is what happens when you blow up stuff, so this is why we don't want the Bad Guys to get explosives on a plane."
Pathetic.
~~ Irish
Pathetic.
~~ Irish
Jul 6, 2013 | 11:11 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 223
We had "bomb day" one year as part of our in-service training (local police department). While the boys ate up the testosterone rush, I found the training to be a big waste of time. Everyone knows what bombs do and what the impact is. I hope that this is not an example of what TSA considers quality training.
What would be far more useful training would be classes on how to actually find dangerous items but more relevant, how to use common sense to differentiate between dangerous and non dangerous items. How to use common sense when applying the rules and how to properly handle dangerous items when they are found.
As mentioned in a previous thread, TSA has been known to confiscate liquids and gels which would have fit neatly into a one quart bag but were instead in a one gallon bag (taking up less than a quarter of it). Common sense: how does a tube of toothpaste go from innocuous to dangerous when placed in a different sized bag.
Now, assuming that the toothpaste has indeed been properly identified as dangerous and possibly explosive, why is it tossed so casually in the trashcan at the checkpoint. If anyone truly thought for even one second that a confiscated gel or liquid was dangerous, the area should be evacuated, the bomb squad should be called in and the explosive should be isolated for a controlled detonation.
So, you either think my item is an explosive or not. which is it?
What would be far more useful training would be classes on how to actually find dangerous items but more relevant, how to use common sense to differentiate between dangerous and non dangerous items. How to use common sense when applying the rules and how to properly handle dangerous items when they are found.
As mentioned in a previous thread, TSA has been known to confiscate liquids and gels which would have fit neatly into a one quart bag but were instead in a one gallon bag (taking up less than a quarter of it). Common sense: how does a tube of toothpaste go from innocuous to dangerous when placed in a different sized bag.
Now, assuming that the toothpaste has indeed been properly identified as dangerous and possibly explosive, why is it tossed so casually in the trashcan at the checkpoint. If anyone truly thought for even one second that a confiscated gel or liquid was dangerous, the area should be evacuated, the bomb squad should be called in and the explosive should be isolated for a controlled detonation.
So, you either think my item is an explosive or not. which is it?
Can someone remind me. Has TSA discovered any bomb or IED at a security checkpoint?
Jul 6, 2013 | 12:04 pm
#15
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
You are correct. Nothing they showed on camera prepared the Airport Security Screeners to find one of those bombs or properly respond to a discovery of one. It sure would be interesting to see the "lesson plan" and the instructional objectives. It was probably fun for most Airport Security Screeners present and the guys actually blowing up things likely kept their skill set up.
Can someone remind me. Has TSA discovered any bomb or IED at a security checkpoint?
Can someone remind me. Has TSA discovered any bomb or IED at a security checkpoint?