Small Metal Urn in Carry On?
 

I was given some remains of a friend in a small brass urn and am flying back from EWR to SFO late tomorrow. It's round, maybe 1 3/4" diameter and a little less than 3 inches tall. Will I have any trouble clearing security with this? I really don't want to chance this in my checked bag or sending via USPS.

I took my parents remains through security but they were packaged by the funeral home for travel (in plastic urns). They were labeled as containing cremated human remains. I notified the screeners that I was carrying human remains in my carry-on and I found the TSA to be quite respectful about the whole process. They put the urns through the xray machine one at a time and off I went. But this was within a couple of weeks of a well publicized incident where the TSA spilled someones remains all over the floor and I suspect everyone was being extra careful to avoid a repeat performance.

The TSA's website indicates that the container must be able to pass through the xray and show its contents. So the issue may be the brass urn.

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...rting-deceased

As long as the urn is acceptable, I would notify the TSA screeners that you have cremated human remains and hopefully there will be no issues.

Unfortunately if you run into TSA staff that are improperly trained and/or acting like jerks, you could be in for a long day.

I hope all goes well for you!

Yes, you will have trouble. We did when carrying my MIL remains many years ago. This was even pre-TSA. Remains are basically bone and thus you can't see through them during screening (think x-rays). They told us that we needed a note from the funeral home certifying the contents.