Of course, anything is theoretically possible. Was the unscreened luggage in an area that was roped off or otherwise designated off limits? Also, was a screener present? These are two key factors. We prioritize bags for screening in flight order. Rule of thumb for most airlines is to have all of the bags screened and in the airlines' possession no later than 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure. This means that if your flight wasn't due to leave for sometime and there were other flights ahead of you, then those other flights were screened/loaded first. Otherwise, the general rule is to get the bags off the floor. That is, screen 'em as soon as we get 'em.

Looks like your bag was screened under an alternative protocol, which is perfectly sound. I can't go into too much detail because of SSI restrictions; however, I can tell you that once we've reached maximum capacity on the CTX and are still unable to stay ahead of the number of bags to be screened, then we're authorized to augment our screening capacity by simultaneously ETDing bags as an alternative to x-raying them. This enables us to tackle huge loads without risking any bags missing their flights. From what you've described, the screener did nothing wrong and was pretty thorough. Something I would think you'd appreciate.

And you raise a very valid point. As a rule of thumb, I try to repack items in the same manner as the passenger did. In other words, if they had items inside a plastic bag, then I put it back inside the plastic bag. If they had it wrapped in newspaper, then I put it back in newspaper and tape it as well. The difficult thing is to repack it exactly the way the passenger did; however, I generally follow the same scheme. For example, if I can see that a passenger had packed fragile items inside or surrounded by clothes in an attempt to cushion them, then I'll do the same thing.

As a sidebar, something that my 18-year old daughter had to teach me, I commented how one bag had bras tucked in each of the four corners of the bag. I laughed saying that the bras weren't really good as insulators or packaging material. Then my daughter enlightened me that the purpose wasn't to use the bras as packing but to preserve their shape. Otherwise, they'll get a wrinkle or collapse and not look good when worn. Duh!

So now I know.

luggage rant :D , kinda long....
 

Hi Bart,

There were two TSA employees working the POD. At the exit of the CTX there were 3 or 4 suitcases built up, likely needing secondary. (note: this is "busy" for some SDF CTX pods - most often, when I have checked luggage, I hand it over and straight into the CTX it goes). There were also three or four checked items on the floor at the enterance to the pod.

Both were busy working on secondary luggage screening. One quickly came over, asked if it was locked, and then said just set it down here. "Here" is the enterance to a roped off area - not really behind any ropes or moved further bank like at some other airports. The TSAer then returned to secondary luggage inspection; two stations/tables/ETDs exist for this at this pod, both facing away from where the luggage was left on the floor.

My concern is a few suitcases sitting at the front, with no one having them in their line of site with both screeners facing the other direction. On occassion a screener would turn around and look if anyone was there with an item to drop off. The # of suitcases and speed of work was "slow" compared to what you see at other airports (this was 4th of Juky weekend). At other airports, I've seen 3 TSAers at a luggage pod go through luggage stacked rows deep behind a roped off area much faster.

I saw it lifted from the back end of the CTX to the screening table. I doubt the CTX was at maxiumum capacity as it wasn't extremely busy, but the screening process seemed to be quite slow. I get the impression most bags were alarming at the CTX from watching them, which is why there were busy at the secondary table with a few suitcases at the back of the CTX so it couldn't take any others until they were move.

BTW: The screener was kind and pretty thorough, something I did appreciate seeing. When we were invited over to watch the secondary, that was a welcome change - very much appreciated. I apologize to you if my message came across wrong, my main criticism was how many seperate swabs she did on this one item of luggage.

Sometimes screeners use the same swab and hit many areas of the luggage and then run it through the ETD. In this case many differerent surface areas (very thourough) were swabbed, then each swab put through ETD. She would return, swab, ETD, swab, ETD, and keep repeating. It seemed a waste of resources as she did many seperate swabs on one item of luggage (three that I saw on the outside alone, plus one inside an outside pocket - once open at least another five seperate swabs at minimum in different areas including the outsides of different cosmetic products - i.e. swab the outside of the lipstick package stuff, ETD, next, swab the Clinique bottles on outside which were packaged right next to the lipstick package, etc).

I don't believe the ETD alarmed on one of the first swabs that I know of as I believe a report with ID, etc would be done if there was a positive hit; the time I had a positive ETD hit with checked luggage at SDF, a supervisor had to clear it and my ID, BP, etc. was collected for a report.

Any thoughts on this? I don't have any complaints per se with the above, but it seems like a waste of resources to use so many ETD pads (I'm sure ya get em' bulk :D ) and it slowed the process with her running so many seperate ETD's. I've never witnessed so many seperate ones run ETD samples on one item! If this was done with every item of luggage, she would only get through perhaps six items in an hour.

[/QUOTE=Re-Packing]
And you raise a very valid point. As a rule of thumb, I try to repack items in the same manner as the passenger did. In other words, if they had items inside a plastic bag, then I put it back inside the plastic bag. If they had it wrapped in newspaper, then I put it back in newspaper and tape it as well. The difficult thing is to repack it exactly the way the passenger did; however, I generally follow the same scheme. For example, if I can see that a passenger had packed fragile items inside or surrounded by clothes in an attempt to cushion them, then I'll do the same thing.

As a sidebar, something that my 18-year old daughter had to teach me, I commented how one bag had bras tucked in each of the four corners of the bag. I laughed saying that the bras weren't really good as insulators or packaging material. Then my daughter enlightened me that the purpose wasn't to use the bras as packing but to preserve their shape. Otherwise, they'll get a wrinkle or collapse and not look good when worn. Duh!

So now I know.[/QUOTE]

Interesting, you learn something new everyday :D

When it comes to clothing, if I have a checked suitcase, it's for a long-haul extended trip. Clothing can always be ironed and things shift as it is, things get wrinked, etc., after being in a suitcase for 30+ hours with handling at multiple airports. I don't mind how the TSA re-packs clothing as long as it's reasonably done - i.e. goes back in folded or if I am using a rolling technique for more room, it goes back in tightly rolled so all items fit back in.

RANT-ON

My concern is with items which are liquid/semi liquid in nature, which can leak and secondly items which can break if incorrectly re-packed. With respect to breakage, some items aren't necessarily fragile, but will break if not packed properly because a 50 lbs suitcase is dropped right on top of it unprotected - as a result of poor re-packing by TSA.

Another unrelated rant is locking of luggage when traveling with checked luggage on complex international itineraries which involved multiple connections, overnight connections where baggage is in airline posession in a country like Malaysia, Singapore, or Thailand to protect from contraband introduction. In places like AMS, CDG, or some Mexician airports, "open me & pilfer" is written over luggage of those coming from the US unlocked.

When screenng is done in front of passengers, I notice a better job is done at re-packing. When it's done in the dungeon, behind the scenes, re-packing seems to be done poorly more often than not. As previously mentioned, I've had my items disappear and my suitcase repacked with clothing of a teenager. This pissed me off, it cost me $$$ to purchase new clothing articles last minute. Reimbursed by air carrier, yes - for loss, but new last minute purchases cost more. Thanks, TSA, especially the folks at HQ. </sarcasm>. :p Some of the airports, such as where my "switch-a-roo" problem happened was behind the scenes screening -- often they're busier airports, but that is no excuse.

Many people say "Carry-on if you're concerned", but fact of life is when doing ulltra-long haul travel between two nations for a multi-month trip, a lot of stuff must be checked and there are carry-on limits - even in First or Business class. Then there is the "what can I manage dragging through multiple airports, including switching terminals and other fun things" .

If I fly a routing like Louisville - Houston - Los Angeles, switch carriers & trek to Tom Bradley Terminal; then fly another carrier to TPE/Taipei-Taiwan or ICN/Incheon-Korea or NRT/Narita-Japan and then, continue on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or perhaps Singapore - have an overnight connection where I clear Malaysian or Singapore Customs & Immigrations and stay overnight at an airport hotel, but checked luggage is still in airline posession, next morning must go through exit immigrations, get boarding pass, and then fly for another 8 hours to Melbourne. If packing lots in a carry-on, think of how many times that must get security screened when making four or more connections. Even if just transfering planes in a sterile international transit zone, one must often go through security at transfer airport after deplaning before being allowed into the departure area for connections. Airports like KUL just screen everyone at the gate.

If one must enter a contry for an overnight hotel stay, some common items in the USA, the UK or Australia are sometimes illegal under the laws of the country you transit. Such items must go into checked luggage which stays in Intl transit so you do not risk getting caught violating any laws, getting fined, or worse. Sudafed is illegal in Japan; codiene is illegal in the UAE where DXB is located (a British woman went through a terrible ordeal recentlu because of it) --- ironically codiene tablets are OTC in many other nations, often a combo of Paracetemol or Ibuprofin and a small dose of codiene. From intial looking at packaging, i.e. Nurophen Plus (Ibuprofin based with a bit of codiene), an American might grab it at the phramacy thinking, 'oh, a strong dose of Advil/Ibuprofin, good' -- only later to realize it had codiene in it). Some Americans may buy it because it had codiene in it and then need to travel back through a country where it's illegal, but the consumer may not know this.

Not everyone is making a 2 hr flight to Florida with perhaps one connection :D

If luggage isn't properly re-packed that can cause problems between pressurization on aircaft, temperature changes between locations depending on where luggage is stored between flights, and the last thing I want is a liquid leaking over my clothing because a TSA screener didn't re-package a bottle of something (i.e. lotion/shampoo/etc) the way it was originally packaged to prevent it.

ok, rant off. Hopefully something can be done about this. It's a service issue, but of importance to passengers.

SDF_Traveler

P.S. apologies for any typos - half asleep as I write this.

I always request if I can re-pack myself
 

The last time they searched my bag in New Orleans, in June, the officer was starting to re-pack my items and I asked if I could do it myself and she agreed. The complete opposite of what happened to you. I would rather re-pack my own items, I'm just funny that way, but I don't want it to look like I'm trying to snatch the stuff out of their hands or anything.

It sounds like maybe there is no consistent policy, but my preference is to do my own re-packing if I have a choice.

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and other people will complain about overhead space if you do carry on... :(

I just take my sweet time re-packing everything exactly as it was... I take up all the counter space to do it too ;)

^ I let them attempt to repack, but usually wave them away after they put the first item in messily -- I have no issue with them repacking what they unpacked if they can do it the right/neat way. I do the same thing as far as taking my time and not letting them use the area until I'm done, just in case I've missing something, of course ;)

You raise a very valid concern. I agree. The luggage needs to be secured better. More importantly, there should be a screener or contractor (we have both) present with the luggage. As a general rule, it's not wise to leave the front unattended when there are bags on the floor. The airport you mentioned has a serious problem.

From what you're describing, it wasn't alternative protocol. It was a straight bag check. Without knowing what it was that alarmed, at this point I can only guess. However, a typical bag check of a CTX alarm is pretty straightforward. The way I instruct my screeners, it's a lot like Zorro: you go in, make a Z with your wand, and get out. (of course, there's more to it than that, but you get the general idea).

I can't really comment because I don't know what alarmed on the CTX. From your description, it appears as if several cosmetics alarmed and she ETD'd each one separately. It also appears that she may have ETD'd a couple adjacent items just in case. This isn't unusual because of the nature of the CTX alarm image. For example, the CTX may alarm clearly on a deodorant stick, and the screener knows that he or she has to ETD that item. However, the alarm "box" may "bleed over" to adjacent items such as a portion of the tube of toothpaste and/or a portion of the electric shaver. The screener would have to ETD each of these as well. If you had a cluster of cosmetics, it would not be unusual to ETD the items as you described.

Certain items soil the ETD swabs or contaminate them easily. As a general rule, a screener can use the same swab for up to 10 different samples. However, with some items, it's wise to use different swabs or else risk getting "false alarms." (They're not really "false alarms," however, it's the lexicon most people in this forum are accustomed to.)

I truly hate to come off sounding like some cheap commercial; however, the TSA Sentry locks and/or Safe Flite (I believe that's the name) travel locks are your best bet. You can lock your bags, and if TSA needs to get inside, we have the master keys.

I agree that the public screening pods are better because of the very things you mentioned. However, the original concept called for baggage screening to be conducted behind the scenes and out of public view. The lobby screening pods was a temporary measure until airports could construct permanent TSA screening pods behind the ticket counters. A lot of this has to do with the aesthetics of the public lobbies that many airport managers want to maintain, and bulky CTX machines take away from that. The other thing is that the trend is to go to inline baggage screening coupled with on-screen alarm resolution protocols. In other words, the CTX operator will be able to resolve more alarms using certain on-screen techniques without necessarily having these items physically checked. Theoretically, this will cut down on the number of baggage checks and cut down on the number of baggage screeners. The goal here is to re-establish the aesthetics of public airport lobbies and cut down on the number of baggage screeners.

You have a right to expect your property to be handled carefully by airline baggage handlers and TSA screeners. Just to be fair, however, I've seen some items packed in checked baggage that just have me shaking my head. They are breakage just waiting to happen or items that are so loose that it's obvious they will fall out. When practical, I'll notify a GSC so that they can secure it (this is, after all, an airline responsibility). However, if we happen to have to inspect the bag, we'll wrap extra tape around to secure the bag a little better.

I usually ignore these types of posts; however, since you insist on making it personal and since the moderators have failed to clean up this blatant violation of FlyerTalk TOS, I'll respond just for you:

I've served in the United States Army for over 20 years and done things you either see in action movies, read in adventure novels, or fantasize about when you feel like being an online hero; all in the name of national security and defense of country. I've paid my dues and have buried very dear friends who weren't as lucky as I. I don't need a lecture on the Constitution of the United States; I have a very clear understanding of what it means and what it takes to protect its ideals from abuse.

You don't have to respond, cupcake. I'm not interested in reading anything you have to say.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:


This thread was supposed to be specifically about whether they were supposed to re-pack my suitcase and if so (which Bart did answer part of) where do I print the page that shows them they were wrong.

Take the other stuff elsewhere....

It also seems to me that this is a huge violation by TSA. This is why: When you check your luggage, it goes through TSA screening. Some airports, such as mine here in AGS, only do physical searches because they don't have the baggage machines. I was always told that the pax could not have any contact with the luggage, after you presented it for check-in, until the arrival city luggage claim. Having contact with your luggage is the reason you have to go through screening again after clearing customs on an international flight. So let's say, for arguements sake, that you had some type of prohibited item. After TSA does their upside down search, you then re-pack your bags and slip in the prohibitive item undetected. Is this possible? I believe it is. Also, maybe the "smart" bad guy is buying refundable last minute tickets hoping to get a SSSS. He/she sees it on their BP and know they have an opportunity to do something bad. If they have too many eyes upon them, they can ditch the item before hand luggage inspection.

A violation of TSA's policy if you ask me. However, with the amount of TSA staff here, I am sure you will let me know if what I say is possible. I'd like to know your thoughts on this.

You can possibly go to the TSA website and find something on it but the you can't really print up the policy as it's considered SSI.

The stories people typed were pretty much informing you of that. Not much you can do but write or call in a complaint to that area FSD and hope they decide to change it.

I haven't worked for TSA for about a 9 months now but the policy was, if it was checked luggage you weren't allowed to repack it for fear of putting something in the bag (haha). Checkpoint, it was was your opition to have the screener repack the bag or the passenger.

Maybe the area FSD recieved a lot of complaints from passengers about packing the bags that he added his/her own extended policy to the procedure which they had the right to do.

I think you're confusing checked baggage and checkpoint screening. If you read what I posted earlier, you have the option of repacking your bag at the checkpoint after it's been cleared. This only makes sense because you are going to have contact with your bag anyway. It's a carry-on.

At checked baggage, you are not allowed to have contact with your bag after it's been screened. I don't know how they do it at other airports, so if it's different, I'd like to hear about it. As for "prohibited items," the items prohibited at the checkpoint are not necessarily prohibited at baggage. For example, you can pack knives, firearms, kubatons, scissors, etc. in your checked luggage. You cannot pack bombs, corrosives, flammables, grenades, acids, explosives or any other items along those lines in your checked luggage or carry-on.

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It just hit me! Neither TSA nor any other security agency screens cargo loaded onto passenger airplanes because of the difficulty of repacking said cargo. It all makes perfect sense. :rolleyes:

Of course, a cynical individual could argue that because passengers would not see screening of cargo, said screening is unimportant in this day and age of Kabuki security.