TSA got you down?

[rye_a]

Just wondering what you folks thought about that little girl that got frisked and patted down at the New Orleans airport a couple of days ago? Those 6 year old terrorists are the worst, you know. Woody

Well, it isn't as if the people who have historically hijacked airplanes had any common traits, so we wouldn't want to "profile" and hurt the feelings of someone in a "protected class." You have to watch out for those 80 year-old grannies too...

 

[fire_diver]

Just wondering what you folks thought about that little girl that got frisked and patted down at the New Orleans airport a couple of days ago? Those 6 year old terrorists are the worst, you know. Woody

If she had been wearing a heavy coat in summer, or had obvious items showing through the cloths, OK. What was the TSA worried about? Did they think she had an uzi under that shirt?

The TSA needs to be abolished and replaced with someon who knows how to protect filghts without this stupid crap that makes nobody safer.

 

[DennisS]

Well, it isn't as if the people who have historically hijacked airplanes had any common traits, so we wouldn't want to "profile" and hurt the feelings of someone in a "protected class." You have to watch out for those 80 year-old grannies too...

If the 80 year old granny has a grandaughter being held hostage in some mid eastern country, she might be persuaded to carry a briefcase aboard or hide a bundle that supposedly contains cash. Ya never know

 

[naimis]

"Expressing your contempt about airport procedures -- that's a First Amendment-protected right," said Michael German, a former FBI agent who now works as legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "We all have the right to express our views, and particularly in a situation where the government is demanding the ability to search you."

"It's circular reasoning where, you know, I'm going to ask someone to surrender their rights; if they refuse, that's evidence that I need to take their rights away from them. And it's simply inappropriate," he said.

TSA security looks at people who complain about ... TSA security - CNN.com

 

[DandyDon]

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[ItsBruce]

I recently flew to Hawaii. Because of weight issues, I put the steel backplate for my bp/w in my carry-on (along with the regulator and camera and a few other things). I figured that with all that metal, TSA would want to search the carry-on. Instead, the agent simply told me to have a safe dive. Ok, I'm impressed.

 

[ItsBruce]

BTW: TSA does much more to protect us than just the scanning that you see at the airport. I gather that there are TSA personnel doing the kinds of things people say TSA ought to be doing. It is just not obvious. And, the ones we don't see are a whole lot brighter than the ones we do see.

 

[craracer]

ItsBruce; Lucky fella you are. I carry on my camera gear, computers, regulators, and mask. I get pulled aside for a bag and person search every time. They suggested that I pull the camera housing out of my bag and send it through by itself, which would prevent me from being pulled aside.

So, I started doing it. However, it made no difference. I still get pulled. I started asking for a hand search of my bags as I approach the checkpoint. This usually goes over like a toot in church, and doesn't seem to help speed the process up.

I've given up and just plan to be pulled aside. I never know how long the process will take, so for domestic flights I get to the airport 2 hours early, and three hours early for international.

 

[ItsBruce]

ItsBruce; Lucky fella you are. I carry on my camera gear, computers, regulators, and mask. I get pulled aside for a bag and person search every time. They suggested that I pull the camera housing out of my bag and send it through by itself, which would prevent me from being pulled aside.

So, I started doing it. However, it made no difference. I still get pulled. I started asking for a hand search of my bags as I approach the checkpoint. This usually goes over like a toot in church, and doesn't seem to help speed the process up.

I've given up and just plan to be pulled aside. I never know how long the process will take, so for domestic flights I get to the airport 2 hours early, and three hours early for international.

The one time TSA actually wanted to search my bag was because he wanted to know what regulator and what computer I was using. I almost missed my flight, but only because we got talking about equipment, where to dive, etc. At least from my point of view, they are pretty well trained at identifying what it is that they are looking at. (Did I mention that the same bag also contained 2 GPS units and a plastic lobster?)

 

[DandyDon]

Last time we flew, they scanned our luggage with a Cat-scan in Amarillo. Carry-ons were glanced at and we said "scuba stuff."

Generally worse is other countries and their security inspecting to TSA standards but in their own ways, which means they keep stuff.