From Newark:
 

Check out this puppy.

I'm actually mildly surprised by this, but I'll say absolutely nothing more and won't expand upon that surprise at all.

"Finding these items demonstrates exactly why TSA is in the airport screening bags and passengers," said Newark FSD Barbara Powell."

Rubbish! The TSA is an absolute joke and a disgrace to this nation because:

"With the possibility of an explosive, authorities evacuated several gate areas, the security checkpoint and the baggage screening area."

and then:

"The passenger was allowed to continue on his flight."

Huh?? :confused: So, there was no threat AND there was no criminal intent?

As usual for the TSA:

STUPID!!! :mad:

Well, now the TSA can't use the "it's hard" argument to find this stuff when they fail their Red Team tests.

bingo ^ and humor me on this one folks, but there's just a teeny weeny part of me that wonders.....was pax just that effing stupid to have a replica (i.e fake) ied in their bag or did it not happen as described. not saying the terminal wasn't dumped as that would be hard to disprove but was it in fact the pax or the tsa at ewr that did it on purpose to make themselves look good. sorry but ever since watergate and proof positive evidence of wmd's in iraq.....

Even if the PAX was stupid enough to make a fake IED, that is still a crime. (hoax destructive device). The fact he had actual blasting caps would send the PAX to the pokey.

Something smells on this one. Thanks Dean for bringing it to our attention.

From the article

Was the passenger allowed on his way with the items. If so, were the "actual blasting caps" allowed to accompany them? :confused:



DD

As long as we're having fun with the article,
..."except the TSA employees, because we know they present no threat. Ever." Or something like that.

My first thought is: why is the TSA touting finding explosives, even fake, ones is their charge? Does the NYPD put out a press release every time it solves a murder or arrests someone for a crime?

My second thought was: there is something fishy here if the passenger was allowed to continue his trip.

Come on, Dean, what's your take on this?

It’s hard to believe the TSA Spokesholes let a whole week’s news cycle go by on this. A quick look at the news feeds shows nothing about this incident at all. In contrast, there are several articles right now about something being found in SEA yesterday.

I don't mind a press release on finding explosives, THAT is what we pay the TSA to do. Press releases on finding joints or credit cards are what upset me.

Disregard; dupe post.

One reason that HQ posts stuff like this on a regular basis is because a lot of times people in the press beat up on the organization about what they do or do not find. It is a basic publication of positive information. It shows that the organization is actually doing what it is supposed to do. Just for the record, if that bag came into my bag room, we would dump the concourse and the front section of our airport! That is just guh-nasty looking! I am still not certain as to what the rationale behind allowing the passenger to fly, maybe there are some factors that are not known. (like maybe a military guy, maybe a red team or some such group that forgot to coordinate... Nah, that would mean the caps were inert... Huh, dunno)

Nice Photo, TSA
 

Very, very large, not hidden, Classic (timer w/LED display-wire-cap-rectangular block of putty) b*mb parts and TSA brags about finding them in a press release? If they can’t find these . . . :td:

Who is the Mystery Pax? My first guess was "Hollywood pyro tech". But the guys at IATSE Local 44 are pros,^ they would know how to ship their wares, and they travel enough to know not to take it on a plane.

Pax checked NINE bags. :eek: At today’s bag fees, who can afford that? Someone not paying out of their own pocket: a government type. Pax not arrested, allowed to continue? Only one type: cop/military with a real badge or orders. Perhaps a Red Team member on their way to another city to “work”? :rolleyes:

TSA’s picture tells the story. The bag is a flip top toolbox, old, worn, beat up, but still serviceable. Metal frame. Not a plastic Sears homeowners tool box. Belongs to a traveling pro, one used to traveling with gear, one who works for an outfit that uses old boxes as long as they can, like an underfunded government agency. Or a retired person from such an occupation.

Clue: The fake b*mb has wires looking like they go thru a watertight bulkhead seal. (doober was on the right track with his fishy insight. ^)

Trite Alert: The b*mb is wired with a Red wire and a Blue wire. Only the Mayberry bomb squad trainer who has seen too many Hollywood B movies would use the “The H-b*mb Big Acme Red LED timer*(*required component) is down to 5 seconds, do I cut the Blue wire or the Red wire?” color code. :p

Where might pax be going? This EWR event happened May 8. Google is our friend ^ Just look up a certain occupation ;) for conventions or annual national training meets.

Oh, look, the Fraternal Order of (US Navy) Underwater Swimmers School, a division of the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Association, is having their annual reunion and Mega beer drinking fest May 14-17 in Panama City, Florida.

Bring memorabilia and photos to share. Duh, better tell TSA first or ship UPS next time. :D

My guess: Pax is a current/retired Navy Seal/local police bomb squad member, taking his nine bags of wares and war souvenirs to a beer fest vacation on the Florida Gulf. That is why he was not arrested.

""Our goal is to keep passengers safe and keep harmful items off planes," said Powell. "Every once in a while it is a fellow passenger. . ." That is odd wording for a non-catching a non-criminal press release. Something not usual or right about it. The word fellow gave it away.

HSVTSO: Friday's Big Catch™ was not a Terrorist, but one of TSA's Own. :td:

It also raises the ante when the next word of Red Team failures comes out.

*****

This one is a bit of a puzzle, from any viewpoint.
Bart, perhaps you should consider some anger counseling before you become the news rather than discussing it.

*****

I have no problem with people doing their jobs properly.:)

*****

I think you have seen a wide variety of attitudes on FT, it is not all whining nor a grudge match. I do hope your efforts make a positive difference, Bart. We are really all on the same side, safe travel, anything you can do to make the travel and checkpoint experience more positive is, well, something you should feel good about. If you are in a position where you can expand that horizon, so much the better.

The arguments and commentary, for the most part, are on how to make safe flight happen. There are many different viewpoints on how far we should take security measures before air travel becomes unbearable for the average traveler. Probably as many viewpoints as to what "unbearable" means, as well. That's what makes this forum interesting.

Real threat = arrest.

Bogus "threat" = passenger continues journey.

In the event of the latter, the TSA should pay a heavy price for dumping the terminal and inconveniencing other passengers.

Looking at the photo on the TSA website, in THIS case I think dumping the terminal was a prudent move.

The issue is that the TSA touts this big find but then we are told the passenger was allowed to continue on his trip. There is a huge disconnect there.

Yes, I expect he was, as Flaflyer suggests, either one of the TSA's own or some other high profile individual who could get away with this, but if it were some guy just off the street, he'd at least have spent some time in handcuffs and being interrogated.

Hindsight is always 20/20, Spiff. I'm going to agree with TK. At the time, TSA's actions were appropriate.

*Most* of the red team failures can be directly attributed to tech failures (roughly 60-65%) that are not going to be picked up well. The red team testing should be used as a tool to help point out areas that need improvement and tech advances that the organization needs. Most of the time, it seems that the red team data is just used to downplay the organizations effectiveness. Just my 2 cents.

"tech failures" - does that mean that Red Teams can't even put a test together properly?

If the failure rate of the TSOs detecting the Red Team were not so high I may agree with you.

Dumping the concourse is what the SOP (rightly so) says to do in this instance. The legal question is not so muddy as it may seem, the prohib lists
<ahref="http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm#9">Explosives</a> lists blasting caps as a no go in both carryon and checked luggage. I am kind of interested in the reasoning behind the allowance to fly, but the situation was handled by that airport and the find was a pretty good one, as I mentioned before, I would have had to change my undies if it came in my bag room.

Negative, it means the equipment a lot of us are using is 1960-70s design with new software and can not determine the difference between a certain items. It is just a failing of the equipment, not necessarily the individual.

Hmmm, I see my attempt at hyperlinking has fallen short... again! I will have to receive some remedial on this particular art form.

Is that why underwear goes missing? I still think you need to place a sign.

"All underwear are subject to seizure in the event of a bomb scare and TSO evacuation"

I make no excuses for the ones that miss that knife taped to the center of the red teams back, or the one with a pistol in their sock. Those are pretty glaring problems. But when something looks like a regular bag and has no indicators you can pick up on with the equipment it makes it tough! (That being said, some of the tests look like your prototype IED picture from an al Quaeda bomb page, I make no excuses for those failures either!)

ROFL :D:D

That could be appropriate in certain circumstances, I would have to be careful though, I am fairly certain that "the woman" would knife me if I showed up in pink frillies....

I couldn't care less what the TSA's shoddy and stupidly-written little secret SOP document says to do in this situation. We've already seen how asinine it is on other matters; it's no surprise that such stupidity is printed.

The TSA should be destroyed.

Not me. ETD would have cleared the bag in seconds.

Good point.

Quote my reply to your previous post to see the formatting for these web pages. :)

ETD may not have cleared the bag, with live caps in the bag there may have been some residue, and there is no telling what else the guy may have had in the bag before this.

We won't know now, since the panic button was pushed (yet again) without anyone bothering to do some thinking and try the ETD. :(