TWA884

With my moderator hat on:

chollie

My pills were confiscated because I was told that nitro is a substance that is 100% banned in any form.

If you type in 'nitro pills', you get a response about medical LGAs. Nitro pills are not LG or A.

The final line in the response says it all (bolding mine):

chollie

Again, for the benefit of lurkers and visitors to the site looking for information: your opinion is that the pills should be allowed. The website does not support that opinion, nor did a group of TSOs, LTSO, STSOs and a suit, some of whom might be above your paygrade.

In short, the real, honest answer to 'can I take my medical nitro pills with me?' is: maybe. It totally depends on the TSO.


Not at all. I'm a nobody on an IBB. If I passed through your checkpoint, I would at best be a nameless, faceless 'perp' to be conditionally passed or rejected. Your opinion, with all due respect, is one opinion - a group of folks from your agency had a very different opinion. The website and HQ statements supports the right of TSA to confiscate my meds (or anything else) solely at the discretion of the screener at the checkpoint.

"Mean-spirited"? My life is potentially at stake; for you, it's just another day on the job. <deleted>, I ended up in a hospital in Europe for three days late last year because I didn't have my nitro pills and I needed them. You and your agency should really be proud of yourselves. It is abundantly obvious from the website and the changes made that TSA is bending over backwards to avoid saying nitro pills are allowed at all times and are not subject to confiscation because of 'screener discretion'.

People who go to the TSA website for information and can't find it, people who subsequently end up here and on other forums looking for answers, need to know the real odds of being allowed to take nitro pills through a checkpoint if they are discovered during a bag search. It does not matter what the website says or what happened on 100 previous trips - and people need to know that just because one screener says he would have allowed the pills (speculation), the truth is another screener (backed by mulitple layers of TSO heirarchy) did not allow the pills.


Someone should stop teaching TSOs that the way to deal with language barriers (including deafness) is to shout and bark louder and louder.

It just makes the shouter look really, really stupid.

As radiogirl noted, it's odd that the rest of the world solves the problem without barking and yelling, and yet TSA can't figure out how it's done. TSA will probably use language barriers as an excuse to outfit every TSO with a free chromebook so they can (not) use google translate. That will be after TSA offers everybody a free trip to the 'academy' for overpriced-for-the-taxpayer useless 'language barrier training'.

FWIW, <deleted>, I ended up in a hospital in Europe for three days late last year. I didn't have my nitro pills and I needed them.

Boggie Dog

When I do that search I don't read anything suggesting medical nitro products are allowed.

In what manner are you seeing an affirmative response?

petaluma1

No, it doesn't say they are allowed. It says:

TSA allows larger amounts of medically necessary liquids, gels, and aerosols in reasonable quantities for your trip, but you must declare them to security officers at the checkpoint for inspection.

Nitro pills are neither "liquids, gels or aerosols."

As has been pointed time and again, the TSA website also says:

If you type in "aspirin", to response you get is:

That's quite a bit different than the response to nitro pills.

petaluma1

^^

TWA884

When I check for "nitro pills", "nitroglycerin pills" or "nitroglycerin patch", a green bar displays with images of a luggage cart and a carried bag and the words "Check or Carry-on."

When I check "nitroglycerin" there is a red bar with the symbol and the words "Not Permitted".

chollie

You know that some people are colorblind - it's more common than you might realize, and definitely more common than TSA understands.

You realize that nitro comes in different forms. The generic reply specifically addresses medical liquids, gels and aerosols. It says nothing about nitro in pill form.

Did you miss the last sentence? I'll quote it again for you.

You also noted that 'nitroglycerine' (in any form) is prohibited. It does not say 'except for medical nitro'.

In other words, it supports what I was told at the checkpoint that day, not GSOltso's interpretation : TSA prohibits nitroglycerine in any quantity and any form at any time. 100% ban.

petaluma1

Then why don't nitro pills get a clear OK like aspirin does? TSA can't totally ban nitro pills so they are put into this catch-all category of LGAs to make it easier to deny them, as Chollie and others have been denied.

Do a search for "breast milk" and see what that says. TSA weasels around that topic also so they can more easily deny one's breast milk or at least make it more difficult to bring it, unlike what AskTSA claims.

Boggie Dog

I understand about the green border but think the words on that page are what one must rely on. If a person checks for other items the words clearly state if the item is allowed or not allowed, not so with medical nitro products.

jkhuggins

The real, honest answer to "can I take anything with me" is "maybe".

sethb

Could you please state the functional difference between the TSO being wrong and the TSO being right? There is clearly no difference to the passenger; is there any action taken against a TSO for being wrong?

goalie

You never know when you'll need an anti-tank mine......

• 59 firearms were discovered last week in carry-on bags
• Two loaded spear guns were detected in a carry-on bag at Houston Hobby (HOU)
• An inert anti-tank landmine was discovered in a checked bag at Austin (AUS)
• A comb knife was discovered in a carry-on bag at Lexington (LEX).
• A 10-inch knife was discovered in a carry-on bag at JFK.
• Throwing knives were discovered in carry-on bags at LGA, BNA, SLC and PHX.

http://blog.tsa.gov/2016/03/tsa-week...-4th-10th.html

sethb

What is a "comb knife"? A switchblade comb (with no sharp parts)? The TSA has confiscated those.

RadioGirl

Thank you for a stunning real-life example of a language barrier. I gave examples of numerous airports around the world that, IME, do not have problems with language, and your conclusion is that everyone has problems. Wow, just... wow.

I've never seen a "designated language specialist" at any of the (non-US) airports I listed; nor have I seen any need for one. But count on TSA to turn a non-problem into an opportunity to hire more excess staff.

Now I have to admit, LAX is in a special class of its very own - anything that CAN be dysfunctional IS dysfunctional at LAX.

But again (<redacted by moderator>) if you run an international airport, you probably should expect to have a few non-English speakers from time to time, and plan accordingly.