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I flew yesterday and in the plane realized I had some water from my daughter in the backpack. It was scanned and missed of course. And why wouldn't they miss it
by locallost 4y ago
I flew yesterday and in the plane realized I had some water from my daughter in the backpack. It was scanned and missed of course. And why wouldn't they miss it, it's a waste of time anyway. But at least they harassed a 3-year old to stand in a certain way to get scanned and fail at it. Unrelated, but I've come to believe it's a form of social welfare. So much policing for nothing, not just airports, wars on drugs etc. without it most of the people doing it would be unemployed.
> Transportation Security Administration screeners allowed banned weapons and mock explosives through airport security checkpoints 95 percent of the time, according to the agency's own undercover testing.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/us-airport-screeners-missed-95-of-weapons-explosives-in-undercover-tests/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/us-airport-scree...
edit: I was a bit harsh, I don't have any real issue with the people doing it an it's probably untrue that most would be unemployed. What I really meant was that I find it strange that social programs are often questioned, but spending hundreds of billions on something not really necessary and creating jobs for it isn't.
- rhuru 4y agoTSA and Public education is jobs program for otherwise unemployable.
- deegles 4y agoI had to throw away my nice Leatherman Micra (because of the tiny blade) at an airport because I forgot it was in my carry on, only to sit at a restaurant next to the gate and be given a full size serrated steak knife with my meal...
- actionfromafar 4y agoThere was a (Wired?) article about what kinds of weapons one could build from things available to buy after the gates.
- chr-s 4y agoI believe this is the original talk from treefort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo8xUsYo8IE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo8xUsYo8IE
- shever73 4y agoThe same thing happened to me with my Leatherman Micra. I have come to the conclusion that most airport security measures are props designed to make us believe that we are safer.
- acomjean 4y agoI’ve been there too. Forgetting to take it off my keychain. For those not familiar it’s a keychain multi-tool. Mine had scissors. But it also has a really short blade. It’s sharp but really small. No worse than knitting needles.. https://www.leatherman.com/micra-20.html https://www.leatherman.com/micra-20.html I usually carry on my slr camera and lenses. And they poke through my bag. One time they detected something. So the tsa agent is asking me about something metal and T shaped. But they won’t let me near my bag. It was a portable microphone. I remember the agent checking my bag holding it up to the scanner persons and yelling, “it’s a microphone”
- anotheruser13 4y agoSame here. The TSA brand of paranoia assumes you could seriously injure or kill someone with an implement that small. Sigh... Tiny brains, stupid rules.
- jpk2f2 4y agoLucky, last time I had a nice steak dinner at an airport they would only give me a butter knife.
- grecy 4y agoIf you have time, you can go backwards out to the regular airport and mail yourself anything you don't want to throw away.
- hammock 4y ago...if you have time, if there is a shipping center in the airport, if it's open, and if the cost of materials and shipping is worth the $35 Leatherman...Might even be the same cost to check it vs ship it at that point. The first I went through TSA with an avalanche probe and collapsible shovel, they didn't stop me, so I thought it was allowed. On the way back they did and I had to rush check it
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Cerium 4y agoMy only experience here was outside of the US, but once when screening found a pair of scissors in my carry on I did this. They gave me a lanyard to let me use the crew line to get back to the front of screening so it didn't take much time.
- InitialLastName 4y agoI have a colleague who travels frequently to perform installations of equipment at client sites. Every time he travels internationally he buys a new copy of his preferred screwdriver kit and takes it as carry-on through one of the busiest airports in the US. Every time he flies home, he has to throw the out when the foreign airport doesn't let it through.
- _8j50 4y agoI made the same mistake but in the US, TSA has a machine they direct you to where you can mail yourself the item with, which I did but it took like two weeks to arrive.
- dzhiurgis 4y agoWe had 7 policemen with rifles and machine guns go thru entire suitcase of 2yo's doodles because I've put my bluetooth speaker there.
- dtech 4y agoThe term you're looking for is security theatre
- HeckFeck 4y ago"The illusion of safety has a positive psychological benefit, therefore we should be obstructive, suspicious and procedural" - or something The fact that this works with so many people makes me warier of them than anyone it purports to protect me against. I don't feel safe being harassed by scowling officials in faux-important uniform.
- meghan_rain 4y agoRight, but to their defense, there have not been 9/11 attacks or anything remotely similar since 9/11... so either it was all fake anyways or the security theater also deters potential low IQ attackers?
- vlovich123 4y agoI also found a magic rock that keeps away tigers. Would you like to purchase it? No tigers have ever been spotted in my area since I found it.
- staringback 4y agoLisa, I want to buy your rock
- cm2187 4y agoI am also not aware, in the history of aviation, of a terrorist attack that was stopped at an airport security check.
- discretion22 4y agoHere's one : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair Though it was the airline's own additional airport security check rather than the security checkpoint.
- yardstick 4y agoIt’s common for airports to allow liquids for babies/toddlers. Just take them out of the bag and put them in a padded box normally. No 100ml limit either- have taken regular water bottles through too (for milk formula). Various airports have different rules. Dubai was quite lax, you don’t have to take anything out of bags. Maybe they have the new scanners already. Singapore was more strict, and they do the security check just before the gate which I hated because things like soft drinks etc purchased in duty free had to be consumed before going through (but again, no problem with baby liquids).
- seanmcdirmid 4y agoAustralia is pretty lax, though they might swab you.
- elthran 4y agoUgh, don't remind me of Singapore. Transferring after a flight from London, I see a water bottle refill fountain, which I use. We're running late, so I head straight to the gate...and then have to immediately dispose of my newly filled 2L water bottle. I've never known another airport to have this security setup, and as a massive transit hub, I really can't make sense of why they chose to put it at that point - but then again, what of airport security actually makes sense when subjected to reasonable logic?
- refurb 4y agoI think the approach was to disperse the security screening to gates so that you don't have to process them all before they even enter the departure area. But to your point, it’s terrible. They basically screen you, then you sit in glass enclosed area, with no toilets and you cant bring liquids in, but there are water fountains. So if you have to use the bathroom you have to leave, then go through security again. Or if there is a gate change, you have to go through security again. It creates more problems than it solves. Terminal 4 does it the normal way with screening before you reach the departure area. They also have scanners where you can leave your laptop in your bag. Much better.
- phantomathkg 4y ago
- pengaru 4y ago> wars on drugs etc I don't think we should be equating TSA with DEA and ATF. The latter two are practically military divisions operating domestically, the wars on drugs are unwinnable nebulous things by design to maintain these standing armies ripe for domestic abuse. TSA however does seem to be a security theater jobs program...
- corbulo 4y agoThe war on drugs is as winnable as the war on murder or the war on petty theft. Just because it doesn't go away doesn't mean you failed at enforcing it. War on drugs is just a shitty political campaign slogan everyone fell for. It's a fantastic one from the perspective of the politician, because they'd never be held accountable for 'losing' it during their tenure.
- oneeyedpigeon 4y agoThe war on drugs is unwinnable because, in general, human beings want to take drugs. Or want to have the freedom to take drugs. Most people don't want to murder or steal.
- grishka 4y agoBesides, taking drugs is a victimless crime. Theft or murder, on the other hand, both have very real victims.
- corbulo 4y ago100,000 dead annually from using would like to have a word. 70k of those are fentanyl by the way. Victimless though right? All those people could quit any time they want, right?
- locallost 4y agoNo, but it's not the root cause that should be fought. Things that cause drug abuse, especially the most harmful ones, are: * lack of education. This was sometimes on purpose, with drug companies lying to get people hooked on opioids * poverty and despair in general * mental health * many other things Those can and should be fought, and they are a lot more effective than policing overall, and also a lot cheaper.
- vladvasiliu 4y agoIt may be a sample size of one and whatnot, but as a European, the best security experience I've had has been in the US (LAX), by far. In my neck of the woods, I have to take out basically everything from my carry-on. Laptop, camera, lenses, you name it, they want it out. Phone, keys, ditto. They usually ask for the belt to come out, too, and sometimes even the shoes. And this is even for internal flights. LAX, by contrast, aside a circus number with some dogs sniffing people, was AOK. Everything stayed in the bag, the line moved constantly.
- Arrath 4y agoIt seems to entirely depend on the mood of the security agents, and the backlog. I've watched them dynamically adjust the levels of required "unpacking all your shit" based on how long the lines are getting.
- alistairSH 4y agoIt's been mixed for me. San Salvador (SAL/MSLP) was probably the most obnoxious, with a double security configuration for US-bound flights. Basically had to pass through security in Lima, then again at SAL, and due to the config, it meant you couldn't get food in the main SAL terminal and wait at your gate - you had to eat it before entering the "US Zone" and then hope you weren't thirsty again. Also, everything electronic out of the bag, dump fluids, etc. Heathrow wasn't great. Long lines for security. Also, they had some buggy facial recognition system that couldn't match me (at the gate) to a photo taken a few hours earlier in the security line. And the gate agent was completely clueless about what to do next. They eventually let me board anyways. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish - I had already passed through security, the final face check was at the gate during boarding. Reykjavik was fine, no different than a US hub. Same for Rome and Lima. Inverness and Edinburgh had typical checks, but the airports are so small and uncrowded that it's pretty stress-free. The only "problem" I've had a both is the ticket agents tend to show up moments before boarding begins (first flight of day), which gets my anxiety up some - I like to be at the gate relaxing well in advance.
- rootusrootus 4y agoNormal TSA is shoes-off, belt-off, laptops and electronics in a separate bin. What you experienced sounds more like TSA Pre-Check.
- jonathantf2 4y agoI was very tired and left large bottle of water, some toiletries over 100ml, my laptop and Nintendo Switch inside my bag and it went through the X-ray scanner at SFO just fine, never once got looked at.
- a2tech 4y agoIts a jobs program for the unemployable. That and political pork. The TSA is a complete failure at every level and is laughably bad at everything but draining money from the taxpayer and stepping on citizens rights. We should go back to metal detectors staffed by airport provided staff and scan checked bags for bombs (which is something that actually kind of works).
- bombcar 4y agoIt’s well known that those who can’t cut it to be police will go be prison guards. And the ones who can’t even meet that bar end up at TSA.
- nirav72 4y agoTo become a cop in the U.S in most places , there is already a low bar for entry. All one needs is a high school diploma (or ged) , no felony conviction and about 3 months training.
- verall 4y agoThis is not even slightly true Go find an average cop, a CO, and a TSA employee. The CO is somewhere between a violent felon and the cop (and is technically probably both). The TSA employee is closer to a DMV employee than a cop. The border/customs agents are cops and they act like it.
- nebula8804 4y agoAt the very least we got some funny pop culture jokes out of it. One of my favorites scenes from The Boondocks makes fun of this. [1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dalD7_hSXeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dalD7_hSXeM
- 908B64B197 4y ago> Its a jobs program for the unemployable. That and political pork. This. A simple look at the profiles of known attackers would reveal it's completely futile to screen literal 0-risk travelers. Getting people to fear and believe that "everyone could be a menace" is a slippery slope and a slap at the core of our legal system (innocent until proven otherwise).