If there’s nothing you hate more than doffing your shoes to walk barefooted or shuffle in your socks through security screenings at the airport, well, we hate to be the ones to tell you, but that’s going to be your reality for awhile. The Transportation Security Administration has been shelling out millions to test not one but four different scanners that would let us keep our shoes on at security checkpoints, and none of them are doing well enough to be used. [More]
TSA
Southwest Airlines Pilot's Tiff With TSA Agent Escalates Until Cops Make Everyone Chill Out
By 8.13.12
No, you aren’t the only one who gets annoyed with the Transportation Security Administration (in fact, 81% of those who responded to our recent poll aren’t fans) — even pilots get fed up from time to time, including one of Southwest Airlines’ very own who was so peeved at a “condescending” agent at New Hampshire’s Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, cops had to be called to cool the whole situation down. [More]
We Complain A Lot But Survey Says Most Americans Think The TSA Is Doing A Good Job
By 8.10.12
Maybe we just hear all the worst things about the Transportation Security Administration, rendering us dubious, but for most Americans the agency seems to be doing a pretty good job running airport security. That’s according to a new survey that found 54% of the country feel the TSA’s work is either good or excellent, and about 30% grading it as just fair. [More]
Court To TSA: It's About Time You Held Those Hearings On Nude Body Scanners, Don't Ya Think?
By 8.2.12
Just last month we reported on a petition from Jim Cato of the Harper Institute, urging the White House to put the heat on the Transportation Security Administration for its delay in holding hearings on nude body scanners, and now it seems the courts have listened. [More]
Good To Know: Stripping In The Airport Security Line Is Totally Cool With The Constitution
By 7.19.12
Do you ever get so angry that you just start tearing off your clothing in public? No? Us either, but one Oregon man was upset enough by Transportation Security Administration measures he found invasive, he stripped down to his birthday suit while in line at Portland’s airport. Luckily for him, a judge thinks that’s just fine. [More]
Passenger Says TSA Handled Her Feeding Tube During Strip Search
By 7.19.12
A woman with a 4″ feeding tube surgically implanted in her abdomen says she makes frequent trips between her home in Texas and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. And while the tube always draws some extra attention at airport security checkpoints, TSA screeners at Dallas Love Field recently went too far in investigating the issue. [More]
TSA Flags Man With World’s Largest Penis For Additional Crotch Screening
By 7.17.12
Jonah Falcon of New York City is an actor and hosts a public-access show about the Yankees, but he isn’t famous for that. He’s famous for a quirk of nature: he has the largest recorded penis in the world. He’s appeared on lots of talk shows and even in a documentary, but evidently his fame hasn’t reached the TSA workers at San Francisco International Airport. There, the large bulge in his pants caught the notice of a guard, who presumed it was some kind of weapon. He was subjected to a (brisk and professional) extra patdown and tested for explosive residue. [More]
Petition Calls On White House To Require TSA To Seek Public Comment On Full-Body Scanners
By 7.11.12
Almost exactly a year ago, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Transportation Security Administration had, in its rush to roll out full-body scanners at airports, broken its own rules by not publishing the policy in the Federal Register and allowing the public to comment on it before putting it into action. At the time, the court expected the TSA to “act promptly” and seek public comment. It hasn’t done so, and now a new petition seeks to have the White House require the TSA to do so. [More]
TSA Firings Continue With Termination Of 8 Air Marshals Suspected Of Boozing While Training
By 6.29.12
On the heels of yesterday’s news that the Transportation Security Administration would be firing eight security screeners for allegedly sleeping while on duty in Newark, it seems the agency is doing a thorough housecleaning job with the termination of eight U.S. Air Marshals. Investigators say they were drinking alcohol on a training day. [More]
8 TSA Security Screeners Fired For Allegedly Sleeping On The Job At Newark Airport
By 6.28.12
The Transportation Security Administration has fired eight security screeners working at Newark Liberty International Airport, accusing them of sleeping while on the job and other violations. The workers were nabbed as part of an ongoing investigation of security operations at the airport. [More]
Man Claims TSA Agent Spilled His Grandfather’s Ashes During Security Screening
By 6.26.12
A man trying to bring his grandfather’s ashes home says a Transportation Security Administration agent not only opened the jar containing the remains, but then proceeded to root around in them and spill some on the floor. He was even more shocked when she laughed at him as he tried to scoop up what had spilled. [More]
TSA’s Plans Mean Maybe The Security Screening Process Won’t Be So Darn Annoying
By 6.25.12
If you’re the kind of person who likes to imagine a Jetsons-esque future where everything is made easier at the press of a button, you’re not alone. The Transportation Security Administration says it’s been dreaming up new ways to finally make airport security screening less annoying — but not for seven to 10 more years. [More]
Woman Accused Of Groping TSA Agent Claims Turnabout Is Fair Play
By 6.20.12
A woman accused of groping a female Transportation Security Administration agent is claiming that she was just showing the agent the kind of aggressive treatment she herself was subject to during a security screening. And she should know, she says –Â she’s a former TSA agent herself. [More]
7 TSA Agents Fired For Paying Bribes To Pass Proficiency Tests
By 6.15.12
Pop quiz: What’s the best way to pass a proficiency test when you work for a highly scrutinized federal agency already under fire for ineptitude? If you answered “pay $200 to the instructor,” then maybe you are among those TSA agents getting the boot from Philadelphia International Airport. [More]
Study: Airport Security Full-Body Scanners Won’t Zap You With Dangerous Radiation
By 6.11.12
If you’re imagining your organs being zapped through with invisible rays of unhealthy radiation while standing in an airport security full-body scanner, well, stop that. A new independent study into the devices used by the Transportation Security Administration found that they do not expose passengers to dangerous levels of radiation. [More]
House Panel Tells The TSA No One But Jay-Z Should Be Patting Down Beyonce
By 6.8.12
Listen up, Transportation Security Administration — the House knows you desperately want to be cool and improve your image, and frisking internationally known superstars and other recognizable famous people isn’t helping. Which means when it comes to patting down Beyonce, don’t. [More]
Homeland Security Hoping To Find Device To Replace Pat-Downs
By 6.4.12
Perhaps the Dept. of Homeland Security is actually listening to all the people who aren’t exactly thrilled with the possibility of being touched by TSA airport screeners. The department is hoping someone out there can come up with a hand-held device that would take the place of the controversial pat-downs. [More]
U.S. Airways Passenger Arrested After Saying She Has "Surgically Implanted Device" Inside Her
By 5.22.12
A U.S. Airways flight en route from Paris to North Carolina had to be rerouted to Bangor, Maine, where an allegedly unruly passenger was arrested because she reportedly told a member of the cabin crew she had a “surgically implanted device” inside of her body. [More]
