Spotty Security
 

Two interesting anecdotes from this weekends mileage run.

1. Boarding in SEA. Everyone was on the plane (although the boarding door wasn't closed yet) when the pilot comes on the PA and announces that everyone has to get all their carryons and deplane per the FAA Special Agent who just showed up. Everyone deplanes. Agent boards plane. Comes back out about 45 minutes later. Everyone has to be rechecked and we are allowed to board. No real explanation given. Pax reaction ranges from anger to fear. (Me? I was merely annoyed.)

2. I recently became Red Cross First Aid and CPR certified. On a last minute whim as I was packing, I threw my small first aid kit into my carry on. When I had a headache in flight and decided to get some Tylenol out of it, I realized that I had 2 syringes (in case I am in the 3rd world and need an injection) as well as safety pins, and a razor blade (not a safety razor, but an actual straight razor blade.) OOPS! I thought about trying to discard them but decided to bet that if security didn't notice them once that they wouldn't be noticed again. I was right. Carried them all the way across the country and back with no problems.

Stuff like this just reinforces my opinion that this new security stuff is just eyecandy designed to make us feel safer as opposed to actually protect us.

Well, your experience this weekend certainly supports that opinion.

Well, when in NYC I bought the Basic Instincts special edition DVD, it wasn't until in the lounge at JFK after security I noticed the free Icepick in the DVD package. So long for extra security. The damage I could have done with that would be much worse than with a fork or metal spoon http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

You mean the nice National Guard folks standing there don't make you feel more secure?


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couldn't agree more... just a way to make the "sheeple" think the feds are actually doing something....


[This message has been edited by duxfan (edited 12-11-2001).]

Well, Friday evening CVG-TPA, they got my deadly church-key can opener from my carryon. CVG-LAS, CVG-LGW, and CVG-CDG all missed it since 10/26, but now they finally got it.

The woman in front of me had everything hand searched because she's a diabetic and had syringes in her bag. Even though the supervisor checked and approved the medecine, the not-so-bright emptied her bags on the table, ran them through x-ray, then pawed through the contents before letting her repack.

You're so much more secure now that I don't have my can opener.

msp..."random passenger check at gate" (what a joke) I always wait until someone is picked and then breeze right through (at msp they do random checks...unlike lax where they seem to have a list of who they are going to search)...anyway on sunday the person picked was, what appeared to be an 80 year old woman (she might have only been 75)...she had an american flag pin on her sweater and she walked VERY slowly...Her getting picked sure made me feel more secure on the plane...ha...

Hmmm, interesting. I'm a diabetic, and I just got back from a PIT/LGW trip. I had all my supplies in one place in a backpack, but figured I'd take the "don't call attention to myself" approach. I did NOT request a hand search, but just placed my bag on the belt and went through. Nobody at either checkpoint so much as blinked -- I just cruised right on through. It was almost a letdown after all the horror stories I'd heard http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif (But not quite -- it was still a major relief to not have any hassles)

Actually, this does make me feel more secure. If the "random" checks are done only for those individuals who might possibly be suspicious, and are never done for people who look like they could cause no trouble, the next incident will be perpetrated by people recruited from the pool of people that won't get checked. Assuming they don't have enough people that are picked due to specific criteria (such as one-way tickets, cash purchase, etc.), the remaining people chosen for secondary screening should be completely random, with nobody excluded.

Based on your message, I have a question: do you think that people with an American flag pin on their sweater are less suspicious?

Well, it looks like Big Brother is watching, on visiting FT I keep passing through the following node on internet:


Name: fbi.den.viawest.net
IP Address: 166.90.152.34
Location: Unknown


Are we that interesting or does FBI just stand for Fiber Backbone Interface http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif Better stop spreading those tips on not getting checked at security http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif

FBI is just the acronym for Foolish Baggage Inspector.