I flew to Taipei from JFK into Chang Kai Shek last week. During my transfer in LAX, one of my carry-ons set of the explosives scan. The supervisor came over and asked the agent which machine she used. She told him and he said something like, "Oh... You better try this one." and pointed to a different machine. The second scan worked fine and the supervisor came over again and took my passport and boarding passes and wrote various pieces of info from them down in a log.

After I arrived in TPE, I had a change of plans and booked a one way ticket on a different airline and cancelled the second half of my original round trip ticket. When I checked in at TPE I was subjected to a bit more rigorous security screening. They unpacked my checked baggage prior to X-Ray as well as all of my carry-ons. In addition, I was asked questions about the trip and asked to provide documentation that I actually had business in Taiwan. I had never gone through this procedure before. Evenually, they let me proceed to the gate.

There was a transfer in Osaka which was completely uneventful and upon arriving in Detroit, customs and immigration was a breeze. I had nothing to declare and walked through the green line with the customary, "Welcome home." from the agent.

Then I proceeded to security for my JFK connection. As I approached the agent, she called out, "I have another one!" and sent me to a different line with only 6-7 people on it. I was directed to hand over my passport and boarding passes. TSA was typing info from the passports and boarding passes into a computer and wouldn't let anyone cross the metal detector until after some response was received. Everyone on this line was wanded and groped, removing shoes and belts in the process. My carryons were checked for explosives and searched. Finally, I was allowed to the gate.

So... My question is, has anyone ever had this happen to them? Did it happen on subsequent trips? I'm hoping that it's because I booked the one-way home but I've made changes like this mid-trip a couple of times before, without a problem. Maybe I was just lucky. I'm hoping that there's no connection with me setting off the explosives scan on my first trip and I'm not on some sort of security list. Does anyone know if there's an official way to find out?

Welcome to FT and to the TS&S forum!

It appears to be standard procedure for TSA to collect name, address, and BP info when the ETD (explosive trace detector) is set off. TSA won't officially say what they do with the information. There has been much discussion here as to the possible privacy act violations with respect to how the information is collected. Based on evidence from past posts here, setting off the ETD alone does not generally seem to trigger future special treatment.


Pardon me if the question seems simplistic, but did your boarding pass have "SSSS" or something similar written on it?

It sounds like you were a "selectee" for additional screening (wand, grope, bag search). Screeners determine selectee status by the mark on the boarding pass. Flying on a one-way ticket and/or flying on an airline where you are not a frequent-flyer greatly increases your chances of being "selected."

I'm a pretty paranoid person, but if I were you I wouldn't worry too much about being on any lists unless you start getting frequently selected, or worse--denied a boarding pass, on round trips on your primary airline. If that occurs, some on FT seem to have had some luck contacting their local FBI field office and/or their congressman in addition to the TSA ombudsman, who seems pretty much powerless.

But you're a long way from needing that and probably fine.

Yes, it did. That's how I assumed the TSA agents were selecting me. It's not as obvious as it used to be a number of years ago when they were groping at the gate...

That's what I was thinking; hoping, actually. I have another trip in a couple of weeks. I'll keep in mind your suggestions regarding the FBI field office, congessman and TSA omsbudsman. Thanks!

Sounds like to me you were a scapegoat for a poor profiling system - a system that always reacts to something(the machine was set off) versus a smart system doing something proactive. Sad, but true.

what is a "smart system" that does something proactive?

also would it include "profiling", all the while preserving individual's rights.

You were selectee, nothing more. The documentation of ETD alarms doesn't go anywhere but stays in the log. If there was an incident/accident the ETD logs can be pulled if needed as part of the investigation.

A smart system would have been something such as checking non-citizen's passports before flying. However, since some states don't want to identify a non-citizen on their driver's license, it is difficult. If they did, the 9-11 people would have been required to produce their passports and then the a/l personel would have seen that their visas were expired and the police could have involved.

A smart system would recognize that all flyers are not threats just because they haven't passed through the TSA security system. A smart system would fix errors of people on the 'no fly list' quickly. A smart system would profile those who should be screened more carefully. Look at Europe and see who they have pulled off on the side checking them closely. A smart sysyem doesn't use a 'one test fixes everything' system.