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TSA orders pat-down of all passengers during boarding

December 27, 2009

The Transportation Security Administration has ordered airlines to perform a manual pat-down screening of all passengers on inbound international flights, “concentrating on upper legs and torso,” according to a memo sent to US Airways employees. The search must be performed by airline personnel during the boarding process, in addition to the regular screening at the checkpoint.

The TSA, meanwhile, has said nothing about its new security measures — either on its site, blog or Twitter feed — in the last 24 hours. However, an administration official confirmed earlier today that the president had ordered a review of airline screening procedures.

Here’s the full text of the memo, which was sent to crewmembers this morning:

Due to the recent event on Delta’s flight 253 AMS-DTW, airlines are being asked to use a best faith effort to implement, as soon as possible, the following security items on international flights arriving into the United States. We expect additional information/changes from the TSA to be disseminated within the next 24 hours.

I. BOARDING GATE

A. The aircraft operator or authorized air carrier representative must ensure all passengers are screened at the boarding gate during the boarding process using the following procedures. These procedures are in addition to the screening of all passengers at the screening checkpoint.

* 1. Perform thorough pat-down of all passengers at boarding gate prior to boarding, concentrating on upper legs and torso.
* 2. Physically inspect 100 percent of all passenger accessible property at the boarding gate prior to boarding, with focus on syringes beingtransported along with powders and/or liquids.
* 3. Current restrictions regarding liquids, aerosols, and gels will be strictly adhered to.
* 4. Crewmembers working the flight and those deadheading in uniform are exempt from the above screening measures.

II. IN FLIGHT

A. During flight, the aircraft operator must ensure that the following procedures are followed:

* 1. Passengers must remain in seats beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
* 2. Passenger access to carry-on baggage is prohibited beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
* 3. Disable passenger cabin SATCOM capability. Any need for air to ground communication will be coordinated through the flight deck. GPS generated moving maps in the cabin will also be disabled. Attempts to access the moving map display will lock up the screen requiring a Flight Attendant reset to access other components of the IFE program.
* 4. While over U.S. airspace, flight crew may not make any announcement to passengers concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks.
* 5. Passengers may not conceal their hands under blankets, pillows, or personal belongings held on their lap beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination. Pillows and blankets may be stowed under the seat in front or in overhead bins. Customers may retain any reading material issued by the Company and/or a personal book. They may also retain a jacket or sweater as long as their hands are not concealed by the garment.

Please contact your dispatcher or Chief Pilot Office if you have any questions concerning the above items.

Lyle Hogg
Vice President Flight Operations

I’ve reported some of this information already, but the pat-down order is a new one. I wasn’t aware that crewmembers were trained to handle pat-down screenings. This should be interesting.

If anyone reading this has experienced the “100 percent pat-down” screening rule firsthand, please let me know.

(Photo: Jeff Hester/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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60 comments

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  • marsjanco

    Is it me?? This has to be a complete joke. We have to have our hands in full view???? On the off chance that a copycat incident is attempted? AQ must be killing themselves laughing reading this..

    I agree soemthing MUST be done, but seriously- making us show our hands at all times? Turning off flight maps and not letting us know where we are or how much longer we will be on the flight?

    Access to carry on stopped one hour prior to landing? How is this going to help?? What are we supposed to do for the last hour? Sit there with maybe a book and not be allowed to move?

    As usual TSA can’t ever get it right… Perhaps they should be enlisting some help with security from ElAl

  • David H

    ‘Passengers must remain in their seats one hour prior to arrival’

    What about those who need the washroom? Or those that have to take medication at exact times? How long befroe terrorists decide that instead of training pilots, it’d be easier for them to find recruits on the crew, as these are exempt from pat-down when either on-duty or dead-heading in uniform.

  • Joe Farrell

    TSA completely lost their mind.

    The way I read this – the TSA has ‘asked.’ I’d tell them that I choose not to comply. It is only a REQUEST.

    Now, if they ORDER it – I expect I may have to comply – but I can reject their request. Buttheads. They do NOT control the security aloft – only the airports. The Captain controls security aloft. Talk about mission creep.

  • http://www.scrapbookupdate.com Nancy Nally

    That section about the boarding gate procedures sounds like they are ordering the set up of another complete security check at the boarding gate. A pat down and “physically inspect all passenger accessible property”? That is a hand search of every single bag! If that is the case, then why even have the first checkpoint?

    But I would like to thank TSA for their generosity in graciously allowing me to keep my clothes on at least in #5 of the in-flight section.

    Flight crews can’t make any announcements about the plane’s location over populated areas or landmarks? Do they think terrorists can’t see out the window? Or are they planning on covering those? (uh-oh, maybe I shouldn’t have given them the idea)

    This is getting ridiculous. How many of our civil liberties do we have to hand over to get on a plane? I need a flight attendant’s permission now to WEAR A FREAKING SWEATER on an international flight? The terrorists have won if we are giving up that much of our freedom in ridiculous security measures.

  • Numpty

    While these rules are getting ridiculous, the supposed issues raised in the comments so far aren’t much better.

    “What are we supposed to do for the last hour? Sit there with maybe a book and not be allowed to move?” Er, yes. If you’re an adult and you can’t sit still for an hour, with or without a book, you have some issues. (If you’re a kid, you’re just going to have to learn.)

    “What about those who need the washroom?” They go an hour or more before the flight lands. Bar those with medical issues, most people are perfectly capable of holding it in for an hour. You’re already not allowed access to the washrooms during the last half an hour or so of any flight, so I don’t see this is such a huge difference.

    (If you do have medical reasons to pee, then yes, you might just have to skip flying anywhere for a while. But flying must be pretty tortuous if you have to pee that often anyway, so you probably won’t miss it much.)

    “Or those that have to take medication at exact times?” I don’t see anything that would prevent them doing that, provided they look it out an hour or more before the end of the flight. Otherwise they’ll have to ask the attendant to get it out their bag. If they need water, the attendant will bring it to them. No big deal.

  • Justin

    Is it me or have the “Terrorists” Won? The whole point of terrorism is not just death and destruction. It is to change the way people live their lives. IE. Fear. Well congratulations. A few STUPID people out of a group have thoroughly succeeded in changing this country. I hate to say it, but as a people, we seem to be the most anal retentive and naive. I am an American myself. Why do I make this assertion? Well let’s see all the WONDERFUL changes brought about since 9/11.

    Patriot Act and MAJOR BIG BROTHER / Government Expansion – Check
    NSA Wiretapping Americans – Check
    FBI Having access to Medical Records and your bank – Check

    The list of ABUSES goes on and on. So are we any bit safer? If you believe it, THEN WHY were events like this able to be replicated. Some great old wise person said once said, “those who trade Liberties for Security deserve neither”.

    We can hand over EVERY RIGHT in the world, and life will never be safe. There’s one thing to take precaution (Metal Detectors, Screenings, etc) and there’s another to be over-reactionary. Leave it to our WONDERFUL POLITICIANS to find a new way to intrude in our lives and for the TSA to make flying a living hell Part 2. Wait, that one’s now happened.

    So what do we get here? We haven’t been told WHAT the person had, if anything. Yet, of course the guy can CLAIM to be affiliated with anyone. Seriously, if he was TRULY Al Qaida, I’m sure there would have been more than a soft “Bang”… more like a BOOM. These guys have the money to do it proper et al. 9/11. Honestly, I think this incidence is just some nut job who they FAILED to screen properly and happened to let board.

    So let’s do a quick and thorough summation. While the TSA can add anything they want to their security checklist, UNTIL THEY PROPERLY screen people with existing methods, more precautions will do little good. Not to mention, so long as people fly internationally, we are at the mercy of THEIR SCREENERS effectiveness, or lack there of.

    We can make ALL THE RULES in the world, REMOVE ALL OUR FREEDOMS, and there will never be absolute safety. You have a FAR MORE CHANCE of being killed by a fellow citizen (16-22,000 are murdered here a year) or dying in an auto accident (40,000 a yr) than being a victim of a terrorist. So hey, let’s ban guns, cars, and all things pointy and dangerous while the TSA and government work hard to figure out what more fear mongering can take place and rights can be removed now.

    I think in the future, I’ll stick to driving…..It’s not that I am scared to fly. It’s that this crap makes flying LESS AND LESS APPEALING…..

  • Thomas Brenneman

    The problem is that TSA is run from Washington! They have no clue about what they oversee. I’m waiting for the full body cavity search to be mandated. They hide all kinds of stuff there in prison, isn’t that what traveling on an airplane is approaching?

  • http://www.driftingfocus.com/blogs Kelsey

    This is truly mind-boggling, and is making me increasingly glad that my dad is a private pilot and that for at least my domestic travel, we just use the family plane.

  • http://www.driftingfocus.com/blogs Kelsey

    @Numpty: Actually, if you read the earlier regulations, you’ll see that even books are not allowed in the final hour. I know few adults who would be thrilled at having to sit, silent, without anything to watch, read, or listen to, for an hour.

  • KF

    So we can’t have access to our luggage in the last hour of a light – despite an X-ray scan and possible hand search? So they could have missed something?

    Seriously, a little common sense please – observation and talking to/questioning passengers are the best and probably most powerful tool for security purposes.

  • MACW

    Hang on.

    That is NOT a memo from the TSA, it’s from US Airways VP of Flight Operations to an unknown list of recipients.

    What all that means is those regulations are an “unofficial” response. We can assume that the TSA is involved, but we shouldn’t assume that (a) the list will remain in effect for very long, or (b) that the list applies to all or even most flights.

    We’ve seen similar sorts of responses before: after the UK plot was uncovered, I was on a flight from Australia to the US, and that had two sets of security: the normal set and an extra set right at the gate. Seems like this is the same sort of “extra cautious” response.

  • meme

    @Numpty, yes, some people do have to go once about an hour and on normal (usually non-US) carriers that is not a problem. And that’s not allowing for an emergency. Lots of people can find travel, different food, airport connections stressful and have bathroom emergencies. Pretty common in fact.

    You don’t know that attendants are going to bring water for those who need medicine! They’re already busy and will be even more so “enforcing” (like we need more of this) this foolishness.

    And for what?

  • Aaron

    Here’s the screaming admission that the TSA’s only mission is security theater:

    “4. Crewmembers working the flight and those deadheading in uniform are exempt from the above screening measures.”

    In other words, it’s just as easy today for trusted insiders and impersonators to blow up a plane. If the TSA was serious about securing flights, anyone with access to the cockpit would be subject to MORE intense screening procedures before every flight, not less. Instead, the people with the easiest access to sensitive parts of the airplane–mechanics, food service, flight attendants, baggage handlers, and pilots–are subject to LESS screening on a daily basis than the passengers who have virtually no opportunity to cause trouble.

    The reason, of course, is that if trusted airline/airport workers were subject to stricter security measures than passengers, airports would come to a screeching halt. But it’s time for the TSA to stop the charade of pretending to protect passengers while leaving such obvious security holes.

    If there is a successful attack on a US flight in the next decade, it will come from a trusted insider or someone impersonating a trusted insider. Then the TSA will claim they never anticipated that attack vector. Wash, rinse, repeat.

  • marsjanco

    @ Numpty:
    Yes, adults can sit bored for an hour.. but why should we?? Have you ever travelled on a 14 hour flight? The last hour is always torturous- this will make it even worse.
    Not only that but I have a one year old, who travels as a lap child. What am I meant to do with him for the last hour if he needs a diaper change? Or needs food? Or needs a bottle since I always give him a bottle as we take off and land?

    As I heard someone on the radio say tonight- if I could get my hands on this jackass, I would break his neck myself! I think it’s time for zero tolerance on those who seek to do harm to innocent air travellers- he should receive the death penalty, as should anyone else attempting to destroy our freedom.

  • John

    You’re kidding deadheads in uniform exempted …Farout! This is unreal?!?!

    “4. Crewmembers working the flight and those deadheading in uniform are exempt from the above screening measures.”

    I only wish … too bad these extreme measures will not protect anyone nor assure any security. heavy sigh…..

  • Howard

    Some of you really just don’t get it.

    You want safety but refuse to accept any inconvenience to get it.

    And for your information, we as crew DO have stricter screenings than the average passenger. We go through exhaustive background checks before we’re even considered for a position. And security badges aren’t exactly ‘easy’ to duplicate. It’s our lives on the line every day as well.

    Perhaps you’d like to point out instances where crew members were ‘converted’ and acted against a commercial airliner? Besides on Television or in the Movies?

    And no one said you couldn’t WEAR your sweater… just not have your hands covered by it laying on your lap. And THAT proves the terrorists have won?

    It’s all unbelievable inconvenient until you’re the one next to the flaming man who by god’s graces on caught on fire and didn’t explode.

    Grow up people… we’re OBVIOUSLY not in the clear here… I mean out of nowhere on Christmas day a man set himself on fire in an attempt to blow up an aircraft and you’re here complaining cause you can’t cover your hands with a blanket or go potty an hour and 5 minutes before landing.

  • Scott

    I just flew today from London Ontario Canada to Chicago on United Express, and experienced the full pat-down procedure at Canadian security. And they were limiting carry-on baggage to 1 small bag. But once we were on the plane there was no mention of any new procedures– since it was a short flight maybe?

    Supposedly Toronto airport had 4-hour security delays for US-bound flights today. Ridiculous.

  • marsjanco

    @ Howard

    I personally would do ANYTHING if i believed it would make us safer. I think the general consensus- and thus the problem we are all having- is that this is just beyond inconvenience and doesnt make us any safer at all.
    Probably doesnt help that the ones making the rules are also the very ones saved from having to go through these ‘pats down’ and extra security measures (can anyone see a member of congress having to go through all this as they board a business class flight?).

    I HATE flying, but since I live in a different country to my family, I have to do so regularly- the only thing that kept flying tolerable was the promise of entertainment (especially on virgin atlantic), and now, since we are not allowed to see an overflight map (which frankly only usually shows the atlantic ocean) all UK papers are reporting that in flight entertainment will be shut off..

    And how exactly will any of these steps benefit us? So we will be blown up over the ocean instead?

  • http://praguepartmentsonline.com Martin Smith

    I think we should insist that all representatives and Senators fly on normal commercial flights in economy class to both domestic and international destinations and that they get no special treatment. When was the last time you saw your representative or Senator (or anyone’s for that matter) on a flight. They don’t do it and they don’t care. Napolitano probably hasn’t flown a commercial flight in years and neither have her henchmen. Give me a break please and start profiling Muslims between the ages of 14 and 40 with a double screening of any that are from any where other than the US by birth.

  • Emmy

    No amount of specific, always-followed instructions will keep us perfectly safe because the people who want to murder us will know what those instructions are and work AROUND them. If they know that place X will always be searched, they’ll use place Y instead. This “take off your shoes” nonsense has been a complete waste of time since the shoe bomber, as it was perfectly obvious that they’d come up with something else entirely. And they did!

    All the specific instructions do is annoy passengers who are NOT murderers.

    Completely random searches are helpful because then the murderers don’t know what to expect. But more important is keeping an eye on, and talking to, passengers who are *already known to authorities* for being suspicious. Which this guy was!

  • Ames

    I had not even thought about lap children until some one mentioned it above – since nothing can be in your lap where does the child go now??

    As far as the pat down concentrating on the upper legs and torso – sounds like it could get rather personal to me – and might find the diaper I decide to wear in anticipation of the last hour. I can only imagine that the last hour of flight does not include all the time circling the airport and the taxi time so two or three hours is more like it and the diaper gets more likely.

    IF I believed that this was likely to catch anyone, it would be acceptable, but what could have caught this guy was listening to his Father’s comments. They claim the information was not specific enough to require extra attention for him, but his act was specific enough to drag everyone else through disruptions. Makes no sense to me. Do the extra searches on anyone there is a hint about – that should keep the searches appearing random enough to satisfy the TSA desire to confuse us. Not all pasengers are dangerous, although more of us seem to become radicalized as this nonsense goes on!

  • Emmy

    “Give me a break please and start profiling Muslims between the ages of 14 and 40 with a double screening of any that are from any where other than the US by birth.”

    You can’t tell a Muslim by sight, and some bastards wouldn’t be above strapping bombs to their child or their grandmother. Far better to interview suspicious individuals than to make sweeping statements – trying to search all members of group X just means, again, that the real killers are likely to hide in group Y and you’ll annoy a lot of innocent Xs.

    For all the crazy security procedures I’ve been through in the past few years, I’ve yet to see any actual *interviews* (except at immigration control AFTER a flight) for security screening. Someone with bad intent is probably better at hiding their bombs than at keeping calm when questioned….

  • John

    My concern is whether the airlines will
    use this to charge passengers for their carryons they will be forced to check. Imagine a family that checks in two suitcases and then has to check their carryon. I know on United the third bag is over $100. Hopefully th won’t be allowed to do this.

  • Scott

    I have visions of the woman who was in line behind me at FRA last week sitting in plastic handcuffs. Not because she intended to blow up the plane, but because she hasn’t flown in 15 years, and only understands French, while the in-flight announcements are in English and German. I have been on several flights since Labor Day where a sizable percentage of the passengers had no idea what the FAs were saying because the did not speak one of the languages being used on the plane.

    There are some benefits to these new rules. Now maybe the guy in front of me will be forced to get his seatback out of my lap a little earlier, and the guy sitting in the window seat next to me won’t be able to get out to go to the bathroom three times before we land. But, the airlines will have to cut back on how much coffee they serve.

    Once again, we are responding to the last attack. There is technology out there that would make us safer, but it’s not at the checkpoint or the boarding gate, it’s in a data center in the suburbs somewhere. I would far rather have my privacy violated by data mining my existence than be subjected to a upper thigh pat down. It is far more effective than the 19 year old girl in the ticket counter queue asking me if I packed my own bags and if anyone else has had access to my electronic devices.

  • CynCyn

    I flew out of Detroit on 12/27 and they barely even gave a glance my way. Additionally, my flight was after the second airplane scare in that airport. You would never have known that there was something extra going on. I have had more screenings in previous flights than I did yesterday. I’m willing to bet that the rules change from airport to airport and airline to airline.

  • http://mlbx@hawaii.rr.com Mort B

    @ Emmy

    You probably have never flown El Al, or indeed, any other airline from Tel Aviv. EVERY passenger is interviewed by trained personnel, in a very thorough way. Guess how many on-board terrorist incidents El Al has had in the last 20 years!!

  • Aaron

    @Howard: If a thorough background check makes you safe to fly, then why can’t I have one and skip the bag check, shoe removal, and potty rules? You sound just like the TSA, assuming that the last attack vector will be the next attack vector. That attitude wastes everyone’s time and doesn’t make us safer.

    Also, of course security badges aren’t easy to come by. But how many times a day does yours truly get examined to find out if it’s a fake? Counterfeiting is not rocket science. Thankfully, building a bomb small enough to get on a plane but big enough to blow one up is.

  • Scott

    It looks like the TSA is backtracking. MSNBC is reporting that a lot of the restrictions on flights inbound to the US are being relaxed. Maybe someone actually got on a plane to see if they they made sense.

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  • karen

    Considering all the extra aggravation that will now accompany just getting onto a plane, I honestly believe that passengers will not allow anyone to start a terrorist attack. I think people are so angry, and rightfully so, that just as happened in this last incident, a potential terrorist will be subdued, at the least, and most likely, physically incapacitated with great bodily injury. I’m not condoning this behavior, but hats off to the heroes amongst us. These people are taking away our freedom, and don’t deserve to enjoy the benefits of life in the US. I only hope that people don’t become over zealous and target innocent people. I also hope that the next TSA requirement is NOT flying naked ( a friend suggested that this would solve all the current problems.)

  • Sheri

    I am so sick of how entitled some (many?) people in our society have become. They want everything handed to them without ever having any inconvenience or having to put out any effort. Your carryon luggage has to be inspected before boarding? You might have to get to the airport the two hours early that you are supposed to anyway? You can’t have your computer or video games the last hour? You are expected to stay seated in the last hour? You can’t conceal your hands during the last hour? You have to keep your kids secured in their seats the last hour. Too bad! Grow up. Quit expecting everything in the world to revolve around you. Why should the rest of us be endangered because you don’t want to be inconvenienced?

  • Linda Snow

    I agree with Justin’s comment that the major aim of terrorism is ”to change the way people live their lives”. I have felt this for many years, going back to the Tylenol poisonings of 1981, which I always thought were a terrorist act rather than a single nutcase. Remember when you could buy a bottle of pills or a jar of mayonnaise that didn’t have a plastic seal on it?

    Many of our “little freedoms” have gradually been taken away, long before 9/11. I can remember when you could get on a plane with NO security screening, and could actually meet your arriving parties AT THE GATE instead of wandering around baggage claim. I can remember when I could visit a museum without my purse being rummaged through by someone wearing latex gloves. And so many things that we take for granted today, a gradual eating away at our sense of living in a free society….

    I for one am glad that I’ve completed my “bucket list” item of visiting all 7 continents, since I may not fly internationally again.

  • http://Travel-Writers-Exchange.com Travel-Writers-Exchange.com

    What has happened to this world? Perhaps if we’d all just get along, we wouldn’t have to go through these ridiculous processes. Why are we giving into the terrorists? This is what you do when you live in FEAR! Furthermore, according to some reports, the U.S. knew about this guy, but did not bother to put him on the “watch or no flight list.” Perhaps Washington was too busy with the Healthcare Reform. Oh Brother!

  • Sheri

    Re: Kelsey’s comment: Actually, if you read the earlier regulations, you’ll see that even books are not allowed in the final hour.

    Read again. The memo actually said: “Customers may retain any reading material issued by the Company and/or a personal book.”

    Retain. That mean KEEP. Although it is sad that adults cannot entertain themselves for an hour without external stimuli. How about an hour of self-examination and really thinking about our values and what is important?

  • Policypeddler

    Numpty: You are naive! I am a healthy male age 62. Tell me I can’t go to the john on a plane and IMMEDIATELY I have the urge to go. You may tell me it’s all in my head; however, the problem is REAL! By the way, could the 1 hour turn into 2 hours or more? You know it could!

    These ridiculous rules are not making us safer. They are only giving the TSA the ability to say they did something (even if it was ridiculous).

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  • kewawoman

    Can somebody with experience (e.g., having flown in the past couple of days) or authority (e.g., a flight attendant) clarify the issue of whether or not a book is allowed in one’s lap during the last hour of flight?

  • Howard

    Howard:

    Your comments were just as silly as the knee-jerk reaction of the TSA. All they care about is an illusion that they are responding to the problems so that they can get on with thier program.

    If after almost 9 years the humongous, fat, overstaffed, and cerebral challenged TSA as not been able to put into effect those security devices and programs, have not been able to solidify the proper communications and synergistic relationships amongst and between all the agencies who have been formed and united to make the US safer for those flying into and out of the US and have not been able to properly coordinate world-wide security, then they should get the hell out of the business and stop wasting our time and money.

    9/11 happened in part due to no action taken when information was received and now the same thing happened on a flight to the US.

    What was the first thing the TSA did after the the TSA leader made a dumb announcement about all procedures were followed? They punished the flying public with useless, ineffectual and absolutely dumb and almost unenforceable procedures instead of paying attention to the cause of the problem.

    Which parent will allow anyone to “pat down” their child-particularly a very young one. .

    Which elderly man with a prostate problem would be able to wait for almost 2 hours to get to use a bathroom at the airport.

  • Gary

    Alot of sensible conclusions and comments posted here, and, some really dumb ones. Personally, I don’t think Janet Napolitano could find her a_ _ with two hands and a flashflight!

    As you may recall, the brainiac response to the shoe bomber guy was to have everyone remove their shoes for screening. So, does this mean now we’ll all have to remove our underwear?

  • Tony

    Sheri December 29, 2009 at 10:08 am
    I am so sick of how entitled some (many?) people in our society have become. They want everything handed to them without ever having any inconvenience or having to put out any effort. Your carryon luggage has to be inspected before boarding? You might have to get to the airport the two hours early that you are supposed to anyway? You can’t have your computer or video games the last hour? You are expected to stay seated in the last hour? You can’t conceal your hands during the last hour? You have to keep your kids secured in their seats the last hour. Too bad! Grow up. Quit expecting everything in the world to revolve around you. Why should the rest of us be endangered because you don’t want to be inconvenienced?

    Sheri
    YOU MUST NOT HAVE TO TRAVEL WITH KIDS. BEFORE YOU say that we want it our way so you will not be endanged fly a 11 .hr flight with a baby our a two yr old then see what you think about the rules then. And Lord help you if you do have bladder control issue, you must be in perfect health and do not have a bunch of health issues that older people have . As far as you being endangered it was not us as passengers it was the morons that had their head stuck up where the sun does not shine . This idot that tried to blow this plane up his OWN dad told the US Embency that he was a nut case, but what did our beloved idots in charge do Not adamn thing .AND I THINK THAT THE SEARCH SHOULD INCLUDE EVERY LIVING BEING ON THAT PLANE the flight crew included and the ones deadheading also . But as normal for Washington they are always a day late and a dollar short. what else is new except we are deeper in debt than every before .

  • Matt

    this crap doesn’t even work, so I don’t get why they bother.

    I’d love to see the tsa simply handle domestic travel the same way as international. The rest is ambiguous and quixotic.

  • http://www.wasabimon.com/ Stephanie – Wasabimon

    From here on out, I think that all terrorists should wear black baseball caps, just so the TSA will stop every person who tried to board when they’re wearing one. Or maybe they’ll just ban them altogether!

    This lunacy is just freaking hilarious.

  • Chris B.

    First of all, I just wanted to say that flying used to be an enjoyable, luxorious experience. Now it is a joke.
    To the man who said we should scan for terrorists, not weapons. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Yes Israel has proved this correct.
    Sheri- You either work for that retarded agency known as the TSA and you’re mad because everyone is putting down this big government joke that pays you better than McDonald’s did. Either that or you’re one of these dumb, idiots that are scared, and think that a couple of big brother tricks is the solution to all the Worlds problems.
    Sheri, you said that we should be “really thinking about our values and what is important”. Have you? Doesn’t sound like it. Freedom and to be free of big brother harassment are my greatest values.

  • Shawn

    @Howard There was one instance of a crew member trying to kill the pilot and co-pilot on 7 April 1994 on a FedEx DC-10

    http://www.tailstrike.com/070494.htm

  • The Brightside

    TSA management’s mistreatment of workers has evolved to mistreat the public:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040103716.html
    *TSA employees face a hostile work environment
    * job assignments are based on favoritism
    *officers are routinely at the airports 11 to 14 hours a day and get paid for only eight hours because of split shift assignments.
    *Staffing levels at some airports are so low that employees work extra shifts, without breaks, and work on their days off
    This sums up the experience that my mother had, while working at TSA.

  • Ituri

    This wanna-be bomber Nigerian came from ANOTHER country. He didn’t even use OUR security, so now we’re to jump through more useless hoops?

    I flew last Sunday on Contenental, absolutely atrocious conditions for a 2-leg from Indianapolis/Houston to Houston/San Diego. I was nearly stripped at security (in public), then I got leered at when I wouldn’t take off everything but a tiny under-tank for the security guard (it snowed 4 inches, it was long underwear!!!). I get shushed through, only to be pointed to the side, where he wants to send me through the body scanning machine. I told him “I’d rather not go through that machine,” and I got a look of the Devil. He called for a (much more polite) woman to pat me down. (So its either strip naked or get scanned naked? When does the anal search begin?)

    Through security, we found our plane delayed NOT to weather, but to maintanence. We waited for FIVE HOURS, because so many flights have been cut there were no other options. We got to Houston 6 hours late, and even with guaranteed tickets on a (now long missed) Contenental flight, we were put on standby… missed 3 FULL flights… and finally caught the very last flight possible to San Diego. On both flights we were “taken hostage” the last hour of the flight. A flight attendant even threatened to take away my book. A BOOK. Whats worse is I think they made the seats smaller, there was no physical way NOT to elbow our neighbors, or them us. I spent the entire two flights leaning into the aisle and getting poked by the attendants.

    NONE of this makes us any safer. Its new accosting after new accosting of INNOCENT citizens. I will *NOT* strip naked, I will *NOT* be treated like a terrorist, and I shouldn’t *HAVE* to to fly. We have to do all this nonsense that does nothing to make us safer, but they didn’t even warn US pilots in the air that a bombing had almost happened. They want us body-cavity searched, but the US doesn’t even scan its checked baggage!

    There are real ways to make us safer, and this sideshow isn’t it.

    There is a simple way to END much of the threat. Civilized countries should STOP accepting flights from non-secure nations. (Nigeria’s idea of security is a bribe!) The moment a country is cut off from the civilized world, it is inherently isolated. Ever seen a suicide bomber from North Korea? NO, because its isolated (by its own means, but the point is valid). Countries will either become secure to regain flight access to the rest of the world, or they will degenerate further on their own, all the while our risk from them is minimized.

    Combine this with scanning ALL bags, checked and carry-on.
    Use microbe detectors on all bags and people (its non-invasive).
    Use intelligence to deny threats boarding rights (the CIA had been warned about this Nigerian by his own father months ago).
    Use common sense and a dash of intelligent profiling (the 82 year old white grandma with a bag, or a black guy with no luggage… which is a threat).

    And don’t give me that “they’d strap a bomb to grandma” nonsense, because that only happens in non-secure nations/airports. It has NOT ONCE happened at a US airport, thanks to the little security that actually works. Moderate profiling is a tool, not a weapon against justice. We’re so P.C. anymore we can’t think straight.

    The TSA is talking about putting “visual scanners” in its airports to catch “nervous” people. If they think me not having a book for an hour is a “safety precaution,” how are they going to use complex visual cues to search for threats? Who can’t get stressed with all this nonsense going on?

    Oye… sorry for the length…

  • givemeabreak

    So will they stop people from checking handheld GPS devices or a GPS watch. i dont think so

  • Jean Edwards

    Of course we all know that TSA stands for “Totally Ass Stupid,” a title they earned for themselves back when the were first organized as a power monger, big brother outfit, minus any real intelligence.

  • David Almstrom

    On my flight from Korea (SQ16), the pat-down and the secondary screening on carry-on luggages was performed.

    Moreover, duty-free shopping (after security) is not allowed within 1 hour of departure. I.e. I tried to buy a bottle of Whiskey but was prohibited as it was too close to departure (really weird rule!).

    But blocking moving maps is ridiculous. What harm can it do? Anyone with little brain can still figure out where the flight is. And it is technically quite difficult for the airlines to reconfigure flights going to US not showing moving maps. What about cameras showing the ground?

    US being the most free country in the world?! Ha, dream on. I hate going to US and it just becomes worse. You guys do not want us to come (I am a Swede living in China).

  • Glory

    I have inflammatory bowel disease. That means I can have bowel incontinence. In other words, *minutes* are sometimes not enough for me to get to a bathroom in time – but once I’m there at least I can clean up. I once lost it in an airport security line. I pity the poor soul who would have to sit next to me for an hour after I’ve gone in my adult diaper, and not to mention myself for being forced to sit in it. And I shudder to think what indignities I’d undergo if they found my adult diaper during the pre-board body search. I only hope it would be unsoiled. Surely I’d be suspected of being another underwear bomber with that bulky thing. What would they do, make me strip so they can disembowel my diaper and hand it back to me in shreds?

    I suppose someone will suggest that all those people out there who suffer from some form of bowel or urinary incontinence just shouldn’t fly. If you feel that way, then please promote high-speed rail. Because unfortunately, not flying is often just not an option in this country.

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