How Many Banned Items Have You Gotten Past TSA?
People think that the TSA isn't paying attention any more, so more passengers are attempting to bring guns (1,828 of which were discovered in 2012) and other items to the airport.
http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...-past-tsa.aspx One recent poll found that 50% of travelers have gotten a banned item past TSA at least once. I haven't tried to get anything past the TSA? Have you? By accident? |
I once brought a "bunadskniv", a silver knife (ca. 5 inches long) that comes with my traditional Norwegian folk costume, undiscovered through BGO and LHR. I attended a wedding the previous weekend, and forgot it completely.
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Butane Lighter
Last year OAK-KOA forgot a lighter in my pocket and discovered it after security. On the flip side, I have had my snowboarding multi-tool, tweezers and nail clippers confiscated
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I've never tried to (beyond the bottle of water I stuffed in my bag because it was the only place to put it and then forgot about it), although I have been guilty of not declaring liquid medicine I knew their system wouldn't see.
TSA-proxies, though--I have smuggled water onto the plane in places with a gate check for liquids. 100% success. |
Disclaimer: I neither understand nor condone people who "just forget" where their gun is. Knives, water bottles, snow globes, sure. But a loaded gun shouldn't just be forgotten somewhere.
That said, the conclusions of the quoted article need some scrutiny. Published statistics for TSA's own tests ("Red Team") from several years ago showed that they regularly missed about 70% of the "banned" items. In February 2011, an undercover agent got a handgun through security without fail on multiple occasions. TSA hasn't been "paying attention" for a long time. ;) The fact that TSA found more guns in 2013 than 2012 doesn't necessarily mean that people just think TSA isn't paying attention. It might be that 20% more people are carrying guns in the first place, and the proportion who "forgot" has stayed the same. Or it may be that TSA has gotten slightly better at finding them. Or a bit of both. 1828 guns in 2013 is a 20% increase on 1523 guns in 2012. If 1523 is 30% of the total guns through checkpoints (TSA missed 70%), that's a total of 5078 guns. If there were 5078 guns again in 2013 and TSA found 1828, then their success rate went up from 30% to 36%. I sure feel safer, don't you? And isn't it curious that there have been no dramatic events due to the ~70% of the things they've missed? Back to the original question; I got through Australian airport security with a Swiss Army knive on 9/18/01. I took the big knife out at home but forgot the medium one was in the same bag. |
Not once, not twice, but THREE times on one trip I had a stun gun in my purse I had totally forgotten about. Realized it just as I was going thru the third check point too late. They never caught it. I have since given it away. It was one shaped like a box about the size of a pack of cigarettes and had a 9v battery. Not a suspicious shape, but still. The inmates are guarding the asylum...
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Big bottle of personal lubricant (well over 3oz) in carry on bag. :D
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1. 4" nail -- MIA
2. spent, fairly-large caliber bullet -- DFW. (Not so lucky at LHR where security held me for about 30 minutes.) |
Some good home made wisconsin maple syrup. Through MKE tsa staff....It was 6 or 8 oz and was in my 1 quart bag of toiletries baggy. The metal container looked smaller than the weight since syrup is so dense. Cant even count the times Ive gone through with forgotten water :/
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Originally Posted by ANC
(Post 22191696)
Some good home made wisconsin maple syrup. Through MKE tsa staff....It was 6 or 8 oz and was in my 1 quart bag of toiletries baggy. The metal container looked smaller than the weight since syrup is so dense. Cant even count the times Ive gone through with forgotten water :/
So your small amount of syrup was probably just fine in terms of volume. |
pocket knife for about 1/2 yr :eek: found it when I emptied my backpack at home. Full bottle of water as well.
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Illegal substance blotted on paper. It had been stashed several months earlier and actually it was forgotten about. I discovered it in my travel wallet after getting to my destination.
Oops :eek: years ago |
A found a small bag filled with a funny white powder in my bag once after I boarded a flight.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Many many years ago |
Originally Posted by TahoeGuy
(Post 22190227)
Last year OAK-KOA forgot a lighter in my pocket and discovered it after security. On the flip side, I have had my snowboarding multi-tool, tweezers and nail clippers confiscated
For those who mentioned a bottle of water, I regularly take a bottle of water through security. Just tell them you have a medical condition and they'll check the bottle and let you through with it. |
I've carried small bottles of liquid (approx. 1 oz/30mL) in my carry-on bag literally 100+ times without objection from the TSA. But the one time I inadvertently had a Swiss Army knife in my bag the TSA caught it.
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