Mats

Does anyone know why these shoes would repeatedly set off the WTMD?
I saw the lights showing that the alarm was in the shoes and nowhere else.

https://www.vagabond.com/us/paul-2-0-5383-001-01/

The TSA guy was polite but puzzled.
I did everything I was supposed to do: walked at pace, did not touch the sides of the archway, and I removed the 15 rounds of ammunition from my socks.

I didn't sound the alarm after placing my shoes in the x-ray machine, which caused a fair bit of disturbance with the TSA ("Why are these here?")

Any thoughts? I will (obviously) wear different shoes today. But I've never experienced anything quite like that. Broken machine?

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Hidden metal eyelets ???

Boggie Dog

I know the materials listed to build the shoe didn't list metal components but any possibility of a metal shank in the shoe? Would be interesting to know how they appeared on X-Ray.

Shank (footwear)

Mats

I emailed the manufacturer. I'm more than a little curious.

The x-ray agent said that there was nothing in them.

I wore different shoes yesterday. No alarm.

I'm starting to think that the WTMD was broken, which is not super great if you think about it.

phltraveler

I would bet it's this.
I had a pair of shoes i regularly wore for work travel and there was only ONE airport WTMD that alarmed: IAH Terminal C security checkpoint at one specific metal detector. Any time I went to that security lane, I had to take my shoes off or they'd alarm. Since I was carrying 3 laptops at the time (work, customer #1, customer #2) and taking my shoes off (because I knew that WTMD would alarm...) I looked like a real noob in the PreCheck lane.

No metal visible on the outside of the shoe, but small metal eyelets hidden in the leather... and one particular WTMD set to a particularly low detection threshold.

Section 107

That would have to be one extremely low sensitivity setting to pick up eyelets....or some very dense eyelets.

phltraveler

Believe me, I know. I was doing 120+ flights a year in 2014... no external eyelets on this shoe. This single WTMD at one airport was set so low it was a problem. I would have assumed there were no eyelets within the leather given the small lace size, apparently there was. I never had issues with those shoes (at hundreds further US and international WTMDs) since.

OP went through the same metal detector with another pair of shoes no issue. Either there's hidden eyelets and the calibration is very very sensitive, there was extreme extreme coincidence, or the metal detector is broken in a way where it can detect a substance in OP's shoes that isn't metallic but will alert.

Based on prior experience... hidden eyelets on an overly sensitive WTMD seems most likely.

chollie

I have had a thin metal hairclip - think big 'bobbie pin' - set off a machine with an obviously low setting. Just that one machine.

Boggie Dog

But I thought the highly trained "last of defense" TSA agents calibrated their equipment to function exactly within specifications! Seems that would mean setting thresholds on low detection levels in order to minimize false alarms.

zephyr17

I have a pair of hiking boots that have a metal strip reinforcing the sole I was unaware of. I have Pre-Check so didn't have to take off my shoes for the initial screen, and they set off the metal detector.

Needless to say, I stopped wearing those when flying.

WillCAD

I had the same thought. OP posted that the TSO at the x-ray said there was "nothing in them", but perhaps they missed it.

I recall seeing a shoemaking vid once about some high-end hiking boot (think $1k hand-made perfection) that had a metal shank almost the full size of the sole. I could imagine that a shank that size might just appear to be another layer of sole on some x-ray displays, especially the fancy 3D stuff form the new CT scanners.

Mats

The manufacturer wrote to me from Sweden. There is no metal, there are no metal eyelets.

I'm still never wearing those again to fly, but it does raise some concerns about broken machines.
At least they were nice about it.

WillCAD

Probably a random alarm, then. I've read about them online, but never experienced one - supposedly, the WTMD randomly alarms to trigger secondary screening, just to keep things indecipherable for the International Brotherhood Guild of Big Bag Tewwowist Union.

I've also heard that the operator can manually trigger an alarm on the WTMD, if they get a hinky feeling on the back of their neck that makes them suspect someone who doesn't trip the alarm might actually carrying a thermonuclear weapon in their underwear.

Since you only had the one experience, I would suggest that you try wearing those shoes again. One data point is not enough to establish a trend, and if those shoes have no metal in them, then they shouldn't alarm the WTMD. If they alarm a second time, then you'll know that the Swedes gave you some bad information, and the shoes do contain some kind of metal.

My next guess, if there is no steel shank and no metal eyelets, would be a layer of some kind of metal foil in the sole. Aluminum foil is supposed to be insulative, and there are even foil-insulated insoles on the market, so maybe those shoes have some. When the manufacturer told you there was no metal in the shoe, maybe it just didn't occur to them that aluminum foil is actually metal.

TWA884

I have experienced those a handful of times at LAX and ORD, and most recently last week at PHL, where I was waived off. The beep is different than the alert when metal is detected.

Mats

That's interesting about the foil, WillCAD
I'd never known about that, but it makes a lot of sense.

It was not a random because the TSA agent/officer get pointing to the illuminated red lights at the feet portion of the WTMD, and I was asked to try again.
Also, a random should have triggered further investigation (swabbing, AIT, frisking). This is was strictly alarm resolution.

It seems far-fetched, but I wonder if there was something on the floor. I can't imagine what that would be, but it's just so odd.

One of my patients worked for TSA for years as a supervisor. I might ask him next time he comes in. I might also give the shoes another spin.

I feel like it's the old high school trick of finding one of those theft detection strips and taping them to an unsuspecting student's shoes. Then it's bad news at a shop or a library.