..... to look at the X-ray display?

I was in San Diego earlier this week, and was treated to yet another demonstration of TSA incompetence.

In Terminal 1 at around noon, and only two of the five (or six?) lanes were open, which wouldn't have been a problem had the TSO's not been so clueless.

The operator of one of the baggage screening machines saw something she couldn't identify, so she called for a colleague. After a few intense minutes, the two called for a third colleague to come over. After a few more intense minutes, they called for a fourth. Amazingly, no one just said "hey, let's take it out of the machine and look through the bag!" And of course, the line, which had been virtually nonexistent, grew and grew.

Way to go, San Diego TSA. Inconvenience passengers because none of your screeners have enough common sense to take a bag out the X-ray machine and look through it off to the side. Simply brilliant.

Actually, if it appears there's a bomb in the bag, we would follow a different protocol rather than taking it out of the machine, jiggling it around and possibility detonating it.

That's called "cautious" -- another way of saying SMART!

If jiggling it around were going to detonate it, wouldn't it have happened by then? I don't know, just asking. Does it really take more than one or two people though? That's not called cautious, it's called poor training and ineptitude. Another victory for minimum competency hiring standards.

If it had been suspected of being a bomb, the terminal would have been cleared.

What I witnessed was nothing more than TSO ineptitude, no matter how hard you try to spin it.

You're tax dollers at work.

Ah yes, the Abundance of Caution�. Caution apparently doesn't equal smarts, else TSA would be a much better run organization and would actually catch real threats to aviation.

7...At least that's how many it took last Monday AM in DEN.

I guess I was lucky in San Diego that it was just four vigilant employees.

So the protocol if it looks like it's potentially explosive is to gather more TSO's into the blast zone adjacent to where the device is? Sure hope not!

Perzactly -- bait the first-responders & take 'em out. It's right in the tewwowists SOP handbook.
While they're all gazing at the shiny gold thingy, the next guy in line pulls HIS detonator-pin.

The more you know.

Spiff would like that.

You don't? Why not? If one goes off, they can give them all posthumous Darwin awards for doing their part to keep stupid genes out of the gene pool.

Because if TSA's explosive looking thingy response strategy was that flawed, then I'd lose all my faith in the war on water, any liquids, shoes, cargo pants and whatever else we're warring on this week....

Hehe. For very small values of residual faith ....

Yeah, isn't where they shout "BRAVO!!!" at the top of their lungs and all activity, right down to the molecular level, stops instantly? Saw it happen in PHX one day...

--PP