Accidential Terrorist - FAA style

M

MrMisanthrope

New member
Topic from over on General... "almost became an 'airline terrorist'"

Discussion revolved around de-milled shell casings/cartridges, toys and commerative NRA "bullet keychains" irratating Airport security.

Let me tell you about airport security... there is none. There is only citizen harrassment. Case in point:

I used to fly regularly between Anchorage & Fairbanks on Mil 'business'.

Once the Morons at the gate wanted to confiscate my Leatherman...as an "illegal butterfly knife". It took my getting the State Trooper stationed at the Airport to rescue my knife and board the plane.

On another occasion they stopped me after I put my breifcase on the x-ray belt. Seems they didn't like the pencil-box full of screwdrivers that was in there. Funny thing though, also in that box was:

-a circuit board
-wires
-2 12v lithium batteries
all wrapped around a large block of an unidentified grey plasticised substance wrapped in waxed paper.

They didn't give it a second look. Given those examples, I guess they are more worried about my taking off a wing in flight than blowing the friggin thing up.

The morons at the Spokane WA airport accosted my wife because her clear sipper-bottle might contain "white gas" and forced her to drink from it to prove otherwise.

(I can think of at least 2 liquid binary explosives that can be drunk without major health consequences.)

When I was with EOD doing FAA security testing I got past security with:

Binary Liquid explosives.
Sm. handguns concealed in steel coffee mugs.
Knives of various dimensions in metal, ceramic and composite.
Simple IED/"terrorist" type explosives.
(Not to mention the UNCONCEALED "BIG BOMB" mentioned above.)

(DON"T TRY ANY OF THIS AT HOME UNLESS YOU HAVE A "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE" CARD)

Seems like the only time I have problems at an Airport is when I'm there legit & clean.

Unbelievable what idiots they hire to "protect" us... and they have the "power" to ruin your life - legally.


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_______________________

HONOR PRAE OMNIBUS
INIURIA MINIMA OMNIBUS
****
Honor Before All
Doing Least Harm Always
_______________________
 
I go on a company road show twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall). Basicly, I fly out to our six data centers over a two week time period to brief them on what's going on over in central support, provide training for the new stuff that we rolled out and answer any questions that they might have, bring them up to speed on what we're working on for the near future, and get their input into what they would like to see happen in the future.

A couple of years ago, I was hoping to catch an earlier flight home but just missed that flight by only minutes -- as I was checking in and inquiring about an earlier flight, the woman told me that the plane was in the process of leaving the gate at that very moment. Since I had already returned the rental car, I decided to camp out at the gate for four and a half hours waiting for the next flight.

The airport was fairly quite and I watched a security guard getting set up. He had one of those hand held metal detectors -- the one that looks like a wand that they wave over your body if you beep going through the metal detector doorway and you empty out all of your pockets and you still beep.

He waved it over his watch and it didn't beep. He banged it a few times with his hand and waved it over his watch again and it still didn't beep. APPARENTLY, the darn thing wasn't working properly. However, instead of getting a new one or calling to have this one fixed, he continued to use it when people beeped and just made believe that it was working as he waved it over people. :eek:

This really made me feel safe :rolleyes: knowing that anyone could board with anything and not be detected.

[This message has been edited by FUD (edited October 11, 2000).]
 
Hey, anyone can get on board of a bus with a gun or a bomb...do you worry much about that?
(Then again, I avoid the local bus service inasmuch as possible)
 
This summer i was watching the hired security running their new chemical swab test on backback straps

over a 2 hour layover i saw 6 innocent looking middle aged women get their purses tested and 4 dweeby guys got their carry on luggage tested.

i gather the tester did not have the intestinal fortitude to ask anyone scarey looking.

I once traveled to NYC on the shuttle with 40 pounds of harddrives, scsi cables and tools in a duffle.

it went right thru no questions asked.

i passed arround the scanner my laptop & to "prove" it was a computer, i booted it up.

Gee...

This summer i ran my laptop thru the scanner in the zero halburton case.

i was not asked to verify the functionality of the machine.

Security is an illusion

dZ
 
I boarded a plane in California (at John Wayne airport no less) carrying the complete electronics maintenance tool kit I had been using to install bar code devices in a manufacturing plant. I had enough hardware to disassemble the darned plane, including two knives (utility cutter and 4-inch Buck), plus various funny looking electical boxes like multimeters. Guess what they did? They passed the tool kit through the X-ray like a pay raise through Congress, and diddled around with my pager to make sure it wasn't a nuke in disguise. Go fig.
 
Heh - I wonder what my luggage does to their detectors? I habitually use my "powder" bag as carry on luggage... Since it always goes to the range, and is used to transport smokeless, I suspect it'd send their detectors right off the scale...
 
The absurdity is worse overseas. I was changing planes once in Harare, and they made me go through the metal detector repeatedly; sensitivity was so high, the machine was spontaneously beeping with nobody near it. And yet, they x-rayed my gun case without batting an eye, and then I HAND CARRIED it to the departure lounge after passing through the metal detector! (Next time, I just cut through the first class lounge, bypassing security entirely.)

Then there was the time in Frankfurt they were inspecting all guns in checked baggage to verify they were unloaded. This check happened on the tarmac under the gate. The security agent hadn't seen a bolt action rifle with a synthetic stock before, so I let him handle it...he pointed it at the plane, up and down the runway, across at the other gates...all while peering through the 'scope. Funny as hell, but at the time, the 100+ other passengers looking out the window weren't laughing. I had to suppress a snicker when I went back up to the waiting lounge and a little old lady came up to me and said "I feel safer with you on the plane!" Good thing there wasn't a real terrorist around, I probably would've been his first target!

A friend travels with a laptop, and frequently has to boot it up to prove it's functional. Someone put in a program so the screen lights up with the words "DETONATION SEQUENCE INITIATED" and a 30 second timer that starts counting down...he was not amused.
 
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