Once again making the rounds on Facebook and in the blogosphere is the story of Indiana National Guard troops traveling home from Afghanistan. In the tale, one soldier was forced by the Transportation Security Administration to yield a pair of nail clippers. Seemed odd, as those soldiers were allowed to carry unloaded guns onto the flight. “What in the what?!?” you might be yelling. [More]
TSA
TSA's Expedited Precheck Program Doesn't Guarantee You'll Always Whisk Through Security
By 3.15.12
We’ve written before about the Transportation Security Administration’s Precheck program, which is intended to allow prescreened travelers to get through airport screening checkpoints in a flash without having to kick off their shoes or wait in the snaking lines of sighing passengers. But membership in the program doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always zip through with a high-five from a TSA agent. [More]
TSA To Take It Easy On Elderly Terrorists
By 3.14.12
The terror threat from septuagenarians is apparently not as high as those young whippersnappers who are merely of retirement age. At least according to the Transportation Security Administration, which next week will begin testing new, less-intrusive, screening procedures for travelers 75 years of age and older. [More]
Bloggers: TSA "Strongly Cautions" Against Writing About Security Loophole
By 3.9.12
It seems the TSA isn’t so happy about the dissemination of a blogger’s contention that you can sneak dangerous stuff through security by placing it along the side of your body. The blogger says reporters complained that the TSA tried to get them not to write about the story. [More]
Man Claims You Can Beat TSA Scanners By Placing Contraband Along The Side Of Your Body
By 3.7.12
Since the TSA began rolling out its full-body scanners a few years ago, much has been made about possible safety and invasion of privacy concerns, but one blogger claims the devices are completely ineffective because all you need to do to sneak something past security is to place it along the side of your body. [More]
TSA Agents Leave Post, Figure Metal Detector Can Monitor Itself
By 2.29.12
Some things are just fine if you leave them unattended for less than a minute. Like, an apple, or a cat, or even a hammer. But a metal detector at an airport security checkpoint? Nope, you shouldn’t leave that alone when people are walking through it. Tell that to the TSA agents at the Sacramento International Airport. [More]
States Making A Profit Selling Machetes, Knives, Fuzzy Handcuffs Confiscated By TSA
By 2.22.12
For all the stories we hear about people who inadvertently slip a knife or gun through airport security, there are countless other travelers whose contraband is confiscated after it shows up on the security scan. But what exactly happens to all that fun stuff? [More]
Senator: Claims Of TSA Harassment Demonstrate The Need For Passenger Advocates
By 2.14.12
Following claims by female passengers that they have been harassed while going through airport security checkpoints, Senator Chuck Schumer from New York has renewed his call for the Transportation Security Administration to place passenger advocates in every airport terminal. [More]
Sorry You Need To Get Screened Before Your Flight, But The TSA Has No Females Working Right Now
By 2.10.12
A woman was trying to fly home to Colorado when she says she wasn’t allowed to board her flight because of her gender. Well, not just that she was a woman, but because there were no female Transportation Security Administration agents on duty when she was going through security. [More]
Keep Your Shoes On, Please: TSA Rolling Out Speedy Security Pre-Screening Program
By 2.8.12
Maybe you’ll be taking your shoes off, but instead of placing them in a bin on a conveyor belt, you’ll be sitting around at home on the computer before heading to the airport. A test program the Transportation Security Administration has been working on called the PreCheck, which will allow passengers to speed through security is now expanding to 28 more airports. [More]
Thieving TSA Agent Serves As Reminder To Not Carry $5K In Your Coat
By 2.2.12
See, this is why smugglers duct tape their contraband to their chest and groin — so that a rogue TSA agent doesn’t simply swipe it from their coat as it goes through the security checkpoint. [More]
TSA Employee Accused Of Lifting 8 iPads That Were Definitely Not His
By 2.1.12
A Transportation Security Administration worker at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport stands accused of theft, after cops say he was found with eight iPads he’d boosted from checked luggage. Looting bags has become too popular of a pastime these days, but luckily one owner used his device’s tracking system to locate the pilfered pad. [More]
TSA Can't Tell The Difference Between A Gun & An Insulin Pump
By 1.27.12
Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport this morning were held back from boarding this morning after the brain trust at the TSA security checkpoint not only managed to mistake a passenger’s insulin pump for a gun, but also waited until after she’d passed through the checkpoint to think it might be a good idea to check out the mysterious item. [More]
Woman Claims Husband's Ashes Went Missing After TSA Made Her Move Them To Checked Baggage
By 1.23.12
A woman flying from Philadelphia to England to return her deceased husband’s ashes to his hometown says US Airways lost them somewhere along the way to her destination. That is what is called a major, major fail. [More]
Ron Paul Says Senator Son Detained By TSA For Refusing Pat-Down
By 1.23.12
Presidential candidate Ron Paul and his son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have been very vocal critics of the Transportation Security Administration. And it doesn’t look like the two will be thinking any more highly of the TSA as, according to the elder Paul pol, Rand was detained by the TSA this morning after refusing to submit to a pat-down. [More]
Arrested Traveler Says She Shouldn't Be Held Responsible Because TSA Didn't Spot Her Handgun
By 1.20.12
Over the years, a number of people have been stopped at airport security checkpoints for carrying weapons — guns, knives, box cutters, the occasional M-622 Avalanche — that the passenger claimed they had accidentally stowed in their carry-on bag. But who is responsible once that traveler gets through the checkpoint? [More]
Airline Passengers Emptied Their Pockets & Left $400K Worth Of Change Behind In 2010
By 1.12.12
Airport security areas are basically just one big change jar, as the Transportation Security Administration reports that passengers left behind around $400,000 in coins in 2010. Which means either we’re forgetting our nickels and dimes or consciously choosing to ditch those pennies instead of filling our pockets back up. [More]
The TSA Cupcake Lady Speaks: I'm Truly Sick Of Talking About Cupcakes
By 1.12.12
While the “TSA Cupcake Lady” is sick of talking about cupcakes, she’s also determined that the dessert in question not be woefully misrepresented by descriptions of it being “packed in icing.” To that end, she was kind of enough to write in and explain her side of the story, in response to the TSA’s recent blog reaction to the cake kerfuffle. [More]
