There have been a few nasty cases, including some involving airlines, of this. Usually they involve toddlers, not teenagers, and they're usually cross-racial adoptions. Kid throws a tantrum for whatever reason, and Ma/Pa Kettle decide that since the parents don't look like the kid, the kid must be abducted. Then either the airline, police, "security," whatever overreact "out of an abundance of caution." :rolleyes:

How many of them were teworrrrists bent on world domination and circumventing TSA skurrrity?

0.

valid advice but a question based on my experiences from my friend who has a a titanium rod in his leg....

since the pax is carrying proper documentation, why not go thru the wtmd and see if you alarm. if no alarm, continue on your way but you do alarm, then tell the tso who is the wtmd gatekeeper your situation and take the secondary with the hhmd. this is what my friend does. he would always get a secondary when telling the tso at the wtmd that he has a rod in his leg even tho he would not alarm but since i suggested he do it as i mentioned above, he is thru the wtmd and on his way in just a few minutes (and n.b. he as alarmed only twice since his surgery 3 years ago)

just my two hockey pucks but seems more efficient if you ask me

+100 There is a lot of variability in the WTMD and don't make things worse than they need to be.

I've got a 50% hit rate with my metal hip implant. Removing my watch (which never used to alarm) and other jewelry seems to help. There is no metal in my shoes, but this week at CBR, I alarmed the WTMD while wearing the shoes. Told the guy that I had a metal hip, was sent back to remove shoes, came back through. (Note: the following is why I love Australia). The screener and I were both expecting another alarm, but when it didn't he just shrugged, smiled, and let me through. ^

Knives and guns have been found hey?

Erm, ok, remind exactly what medication you are on these days, clearly it's not working?

This an old thread, but the only one that I could find that related to my search.

I'm having back surgery in a couple of weeks, which will include the install of a couple of titanium pins. My surgeon claims that its rare for the pins to be detected when going through security.

So with that in mind, can anyone comment on frequency of detection? I'm also part of PreCheck, I would hate to loose out on the benefits of this for future travel.

I have a metal plate and 7 screws in my right leg; I don't know what they're made of but they've never registered when going through security...although I have never gone through either BSX or MMW scanners, so I don't know what might have happened if I had.

Depending on how soon you're flying after surgery, I'd be more concerned about having your surgery scar(s) groped.

I have titanium pins and screws in my knee and I don't set off any alarms.

Thanks for the info. Surgeon wants to ground me for 3 months, but I'm going to see how things go. His concern isn't the flying itself, but the lifting of my bags. The past 4 weeks I have practiced traveling lighter than I typically would. At least on a temporary basis, I think I can get by without the laptop, using only the iPad for presentations, etc. I think I will actually make 3 days out of my Crew 9 rolling tote. So lighter weight bag, less stress on my back until it fully fuses, and an easier time through security given I'm taking much less. I might get used to this...:)

Thanks again for the info. Cheers.

Just a quick follow up; I had zero issues with the metal detector at the Denver TSA PreCheck location yesterday. The pins in my back must not be enough to set off the metal detector. I will be curious to see how things go with the full body scanner here in ABQ this Thursday though.

And yes, I'm traveling just 2.5 weeks since back surgery with no pain whatsoever. Needless to say I think my surgeon rocks!

Added info: no issue today with the full body scanner in ABQ. Nice to know I won't have to suffer added issues with the TSA with the rods in my back.