That is downright frightening.

It's not even like the security folks have considered that a pen could be filled with liquid Sarin (if they ever make THAT realization, we're doomed to no carry-ons, backscatter X-ray, and full grope-downs). No, they banned pens because they have liquid. :(

And sadly, I think that a pen could barlely hold enough flammable material to make a sparkler.

Yes, the Administration looked into this.

The idea was certifiable.

Unfortunately, such a system would not be certifiable. FAA certification that is.

Safe from EVERYTHING
 

But grasshopper, you forgot one thing: Robots are lubricated by oil, and oil is a Forbidden Liquid. :D

Seems like TSA wants to safety us from every consequence that can bring down a plane except an Act of God. Hmmm, perhaps they can help there, too. Just get TSA to declare God a liquid or a gel and ban him from the heavens below FL60? :D

Ummm ... could it be perhaps that there are really not that many terrorist out there? The most dangerous we seem to have captured were a few guys from Detroit buying up cell phones and some loonies in Florida supplied with boots etc. by an agent provocateur. Even the one in London who were supposed to be making the "mix it yourself" liquid bombs seem not to have been anywhere near ready to knowing to make such a device and were still trying - on their own - to figure that out.

Hysteria! We are protecting against a largely non-existent threat. And when a competent bunch comes along, they will not have difficulty penetrating our security charade. Hint: the bombs will not be in shoes or an 80 yo's medication.

As long as the total amount of lubricant is under 2 floz and has a valid
prescription from the maintenance professional, it should be fine. :D

TSA needs to ban
 

....its own agents a/k/a officers.

Pray that the TSA does not see this movie: http://imdb.com/title/tt0104743/

fduvall

Ummm... no. Terrorists don't want to blow up a cargo plane as it wouldn't have as much impact as blowing up a plane with 100+ people on board. Its all about impact.

Cargo plane blowing up - 3-6 pilots on board.. Passenger plane - 100+ people.

Ban the Beans
 

Tagline: Water isn't always safe

Perhaps they did see it. Management forgot to tell them it was a Hollywood FICTION movie, not a TSA documentary. :td:

Hmm, a substance that people ingest and then blow up. Why has not TSA banned the beans yet? :D

Otto the Auto-Pilot from Airplane! The smile on his face was classic! :D

The real scenario that should greatly concern us is commercial cargo transported on passenger airliners. The vast majority of commercial cargo - the figure I have seen most often is 80% - is not screened. Many airlines transport such unscreened cargo on passenger flights. FedEx, DHL, etc. often essentially charter space on passenger airliners for some of their packages. I understand that some international flights carry large quantities of cargo, as opposed to checked bags. Think of the real purpose of TSA - Kabuki security - and this failure to screen cargo with the same zeal as the screening of passengers makes sense.

We are concerned about cargo onboard the passenger jets. Not specifically
the cargo only jets.

I think the other poster doesn't realize that there is alot of cargo carried on passenger plane. Most people I talk to don't realize this either.