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David:
--- Quote from: MaineWriter on January 03, 2007, 09:28:42 am ---So David, I have a TSA question for you...
Yesterday, we took Haley to the airport so she could go home to New York City. Because she was traveling as an unaccompanied minor, they gave me a pass to go through security so I could sit with her at the gate. Usually, before a trip, I empty out my purse of any "problem" items, ie, my Swiss army knife. Since I didn't expect to go through security yesterday, it was in there. However, in the screening, they didn't notice it. Or, if they noticed it, they didn't confiscate it.
Your take on this? Did they miss it? Or, if they saw it, did they let it slide because they knew I wasn't getting on a plane?
I am very grateful that they didn't take it, because I like that knife...I bought it in Switzerland!
L
--- End quote ---
They missed it. Even though you were not flying, you were entering the "Sterile" area. By not screening everyone who enters the same, you could have passed the knife on to someone who was flying. So everyone who enters thru security shouldn't have all of the same liquids etc as someone who is flying.
How they missed it? Hard to say. Is it real small? I really can't say too much about the process as it is Security Sensative Information.
But in all reality, risk management has determined that a small knife like that is not a threat to bring down a plane. The pilots are behind locked, steel doors. No knife of any size is going to cut through it. Taking away knifes is to prevent harm to the persons sitting near you. If a person were to pull out a knife on a plane in flight, all hell would break loose. A dozen strong passengers would jump the person and restrain them, unless the Air Marshall got to them first. Plus many Pilots are now armed.
Flying is very safe. There are so many layers of security over lapping to make sure you have an uneventful trip.
David:
TSA Travel Tip #2
Don't carry Meryls Leslies bag thru security. (Just kidding!) :laugh: LOL
But seriously. Arrive at the Airport early. Especially if you are "Checking" any bags.
The number one reason bags don't arrive on the same plane you were on is because the guys downstairs didn't get them early enough. You need to "Check" your bag(s) at least an hour before your plane departs. Hundreds of bags go down that belt in an hour and they need time to route them to the correct plane.
More so if you are changing planes too. Don't book a flight with a very short lay-over. We all hate to wait, but if you have a layover of less than an hour I'd be surpized if your bags make it off the first plane and onto the next one. Don't forget. They board the plane about 30 minutes prior to departure anyways. So you will need time to deplane, make your way thru the terminal to your next gate (which may include a subway or shuttle) plus a visit to the restroom because we all hate those little Airplane Lavs. So that 60 minute layover is tighter than you think.
So do yourself and your baggage a favor and travel with extra time. And if you're a really hot guy, don't forget, I may detain you! LOL.
MaineWriter:
Thanks, David.
It's just a standard Swiss Army knife, with a a screwdriver and a nail file. Not even a corkscrew! I have always believed it would be useless to do anything dangerous. Mostly what I use it for is slitting open envelopes.
But I understand the importance of the multiple layers of security.
L
Meryl:
--- Quote from: DavidinHartford on January 03, 2007, 03:12:12 pm ---TSA Travel Tip #2
Don't carry Meryls bag thru security. (Just kidding!) :laugh: LOL
--- End quote ---
:laugh:
You don't know how right you are, David! On my way back from Chicago, they stopped me after my purse was x-rayed. I thought it was probably for a nail file, but I was dismayed when the lady pulled out a lovely enameled letter opener I'd bought as a Christmas gift for a friend. I'd totally forgotten it was in my purse. Well, of course it was confiscated and is now in that limbo where pointy sharp things go to die. :'(
MaineWriter:
I understand security, but don't you wish there was some way you could say, "Look, let's be real here. I just spent $24.99 on this in the gift shop at the Chicago Art Institute. It is a Christmas gift for one of my oldest and dearest friends. I really, really do not plan to not plan to comandeer the plan with an enameled letter opener...really!"
But you could never say that.
Probably the most absurd thing I have ever seen was a few years ago, when security was ultra-strict (in the first year or so after 9/11). Remember when they would pull people out of line, randomly, as they were getting on the plane, to do yet another security check? Well, during one of these checks, they pulled out an elderly lady, in a wheel chair, who was on oxygen. The poor woman was barely conscious. It was obvious she was not faking and there was no way she was a security risk. But she got re-screened....
L
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