hkcj

I just went through security at JFK terminal 8 and because I have baby with me I forgot to finish the last inch of water in my bottle.

The TSA agent told me that to keep the bottle I had to leave the terminal and go back through. Confuse, I asked for clarification and he told me that he would have to escort me through the terminal out the arriving passenger exit, and then enter the TSA line at the end.
Functionally, this is obviously identical to me walking back out through the metal detector and then back through! I chose to sacrifice my water bottle, but I wonder if this is a real rule or if he was just on a power trip or misinformed? What possible justification could there be for this rule other than as a punitive measure? Surely the line would be more slowed by his escorting me to the exit than it would be by having me walk back through the metal detector. (But perhaps not in the aggregate if everyone chooses to discard their bottle.)

Oh, and this was PreCheck!

justforfun

From the TSA website:

"Water for babies is allowed in reasonable quantities in carry-on bags. Remove this item from your carry-on bag to be screened separately from the rest of your belongings. Please see traveling with children for more information."

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-...s/water-babies

So a misinformed agent. Shocker.

hkcj

Thanks. But even if it weren't for the baby, do they really need to make you exit all the way through the terminal rather than walking right back out through security?

FlyingUnderTheRadar

According to the TSA procedures once someone is in the "sterile" area there is only one way to exit. And that is not through WTMD. And TSA protocol says they can not empty a water bottle only dispose it. Nor can they give it to you to drink because you are in the sterile area. So I would not say it was punitive but more along the lines of the usual asinine TSA procedures.

GUWonder

They don’t want to have people be able to withdraw out of the screening process once it begins, but given your circumstances there was no need for them to send you “out the long way”. Sometimes they also do this “long way” thing there because they want to go have the “non-cooperative” passengers go through the entire screening process and then sort of have additional time to document or relay the “non-cooperative” passenger incident and passenger info.

hkcj

Thanks all - very informative. I still don't quite understand why water bottles differ from anything else they want to rescreen / find suspicious in a bag (when they remove, say, a jar and rerun the bag) but I can see why in a less accidental situation the policies help protect against bad actors.

FriendlySkies

I still find this to be a stupid policy-- I had a tiny bit of water left in my Nalgene several years ago at MCI and they made me exit the sterile area (I didn't get the bottle back until I was outside the sterile area), drink the tiny bit of water and re-enter. This still makes no sense because they seize liquids all the time and just throw them into bins in the checkpoint as well as let folks ditch liquids in big bins right before the WTMD and "scanners". TSA security theatre at its finest.

hkcj

Right: I can dump it out in the trash before the metal detector; I can go back through the metal detector if my shoes beep; they can put my bag back through if they find two laptops in my bag and remove one. But dump out the liquid and send a bottle back through (with or without the passenger)? That is a non-starter.

So... It might force some bad actor to get extra scrutiny. But why not do that with two laptops in a bag or any other mistake that forces a rescan?

Boggie Dog

We're the TSA. We're from the government. We're here to help.

Section 107

Joseph Heller wrote a wonderful treatise about this type of gubmint thinking....which was later turned into a movie very much worth the watch.

Boggie Dog

Catch 22? I'd say "Einstein Insanity" is a better explanation.

WillCAD

Just another example of inconsistency due to inconsistent training and standards, I guess.

A few years ago at MCO, I was in the queue approaching the c/p and noticed that I had forgotten to dump my water bottle (it's a Brita, and it's opaque, so I didn't notice until I had to pick it up). I'd already been in the queue for over twenty minutes and passed the TDC, and there were no trash cans or even potted plants between me and the belt, so I just drank it. And it wasn't easy, because it was a 24oz bottle about 3/4 full, and I had about three minutes to chug it before I reached the belt.

A TSO noticed me drinking from it, and just before I got to the belt, she asked "Is that bottle empty?" I replied in the affirmative, and nothing else happened - no checking to see if I was lying, no pulling me out for additional screening, no hand search of my carryons, nothing. I just finished up, put myself back together, and ran for the bathroom.

JakiChan

JFK T8 is the worst. We've informed Alaska that we're going to stop flying them out of JFK due to the horrible experience we've had EVERY time there.

stifle

This corresponds to my knowledge of TSA policies. Does it make sense? Of course not. It's the TSA.