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TSA: Toys could threaten flight safety

October 1, 2007

If you’re flying somewhere with the family, you might want to ask junior to pack his remote-controlled car in your check-in luggage. The Transportation Security Administration believes radio-controlled toys could threaten the safety of your flight, according to a press release issued this morning.

I’m not making this up.

“While not associated with a specific threat at this time, TSA is aware that remote control toys can be used to initiate devices used in terrorist attacks,” the agency announced in a prepared statement this morning.

“Accordingly,” it adds, “Transportation Security Officers have trained on this possibility and travelers may encounter additional screening when bringing remote control devices in carry-on baggage.”

Folks, you know what this means. Don’t bring the toys in your carry-on luggage. Better yet, leave them at home. Something tells me the TSA’s in a confiscatin’ mood.

Maybe they’ll end up storing the harmless little cars and planes in the same warehouse with those dangerous sippy cups?

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.

5 comments

  • MikeK

    If they are worried about radio control why do they let cell phones and pagers past the check points. You don’t even have to be in the same country as these devices to trigger them. Its these OBVIOUS inconsistencies that infuriate me and make the TSA joke fodder for the rest of the world.

  • Peter

    So what scenario are they thinking about? Perhaps a terrorist (A) gives someone a toy packed with plastic explosives at the airport after baggage has been checked. Then the toy is in carry-on. If it is found at the TSA checkpoint, A slips into the croud. If not found, A gets on the flight with the remote and picks the time to push the button. Or if the “toy” is in checked baggage, perhaps the remote has a strong enough signal to reach the baggage cargo area in the airplane. This is a tough one to defend.

  • Chicky

    Ah yes: the old strain flies, swalloa camels plan. Works everytime. Heh.

  • Chicky

    Swallow camels, that is….

  • Anon

    Oh! Maybe someone is trying to smuggle a military chip in a remote controlled car, and the TSA is worried it might be shipped to a home-alone ten year old by mistake, so they just want to prevent hilarity from ensuing when the terrorists try to get whats theirs in all sorts of zany ways!

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