Posts in the category "TSA":

Update: The Transportation Security Administration employee who added the personal note (above) to the inspection paperwork placed in a traveler’s checked bag will be fired, the agency said on its blog.

“TSA has completed its investigation of this matter, and has initiated action to remove the individual from federal service,” the agency said.

After traveling with a small vibrator in her checked luggage, New York-based blogger and lawyer Jill Filipovic discovered that someone had scrawled “Get your freak on girl,” across the TSA paperwork left in her bag.

Under the title “Your tax dollars at work,” Filipovic posted the note on the Feministe blog and added her own comment, “Total violation of privacy, wildly inappropriate and clearly not ok, but I also just died laughing in my hotel room.”

She also Tweeted a photo of the note, adding: “Just unpacked my suitcase and found this note from TSA. Guess they discovered a ‘personal item’ in my bag. Wow.”

The TSA inspection card is printed in Spanish on one side and English on the other.

“The note was inappropriate,” said Filipovic, “the agent in question acted unprofessionally when s/he put in my bag, there should be consequences and I’m glad the TSA takes these things seriously. But I get no satisfaction in hearing that someone may be in danger of losing their job over this. I would much prefer a look at why ‘security’ has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake.”

(The original version of this story appeared on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin)

Categories: TSA
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Photo courtesy TSA

Each Friday on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin, I track down an answer to a reader’s question. This week the topic was: guns, knives and grenades at the airport checkpoint.

Throwing knives found in a carry-on at BWI

Should you pack your gun, your grenade or your carving knife in a carry-on bag when you go to the airport?

Definitely not, but apparently a number of people do.

According to a recent post on the Transportation Security Administration’s blog, TSA officers have found more than 800 firearms in carry-on bags this year.

And that number doesn’t include the countless knives that still show up at airport security checkpoints daily — it’s so many that the TSA doesn’t even keep count — or the many inert grenades that passengers try to take home as souvenirs.

Last week, for example, a passenger at the Orlando International Airport showed up with three pistols — a .25-caliber, a .40-caliber semiautomatic and a .357-caliber revolver — in a bag that also contained loose ammunition and a loaded magazine. In Baltimore, the TSA recently found three throwing knives in the carry-on bag of a Mexico-bound traveler. And on Monday, TSA officers at New York’s Albany International Airport discovered a loaded gun in the purse of a woman heading to Detroit.

The two passengers with guns were arrested; the traveler with the knives was cited, and his weapons were confiscated.

It’s unlikely that passengers plan to use their weapons during flight, but it’s difficult to know for sure since people often respond to TSA questioning by saying, “I forgot that it was in my bag.”

Given how frequently illicit weapons are discovered, Overhead Bin asked TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein for advice on the proper way to fly with firearms.

Farbstein said fliers may transport  firearms, ammunition and firearm parts in their checked baggage even though those items are prohibited from carry-on baggage.

“Basically, travelers must declare all firearms, ammunition, and parts to the airline during the ticket counter check-in process,” Farbstein said. “The firearm must be unloaded and it must be in a hard-sided container [and] the container must be locked.”

You can read more about traveling on airplanes with guns, firearms, knives and other weapons on the TSA’s website, but Farbstein adds that “airlines may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition. Therefore, travelers should also contact the airline regarding firearm and ammunition carriage policies.”

Or maybe, just plan to leave your weapons at home.

Categories: TSA
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Each week on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin blog I get to answer a reader’s question. This week’s topic: snow globes on airplanes.

During a recent trip to Disneyland, Camille Kohler’s 5-year-old daughter searched for the one souvenir she would buy and bring home with her to Anchorage, Alaska. After three days of consideration, she decided on a small snow globe from the popular It’s a Small World ride.

For the flight home, Kohler put the snow globe in her carry-on bag. But the water-filled souvenir never made it past the security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport.

“To their credit, the TSA agents were trying to keep the confiscation on the down-low so my daughter wouldn’t see they were taking the snow globe,” said Kohler. “They even looked for a way to empty it. But at that point in the day, I didn’t even want to bring it to my girl’s attention, causing a potential melt-down at the security gates.”

Now Kohler wants to know: “Does the TSA have a rule specifically prohibiting snow globes?”

The answer is yes.

“Snow globes of any size are not permitted in carry-on baggage because there is no way for our officers to accurately determine the volume of liquid,” said Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Greg Soule.

If you do want to travel with a souvenir snow globe that, like Kohler’s daughter, you have carefully picked out, the TSA recommends that you put it in your checked luggage or ship it home. Another option is to shop for a souvenir snow globe at a post-security shop in the airport.

Wondering if your vacation souvenir will make it through the security checkpoint? The TSA has a tool on its website to help travelers like Kohler figure out what will and won’t fly. Overhead Bin plugged in “snow globes” and was sent to a “Check only” page that discusses liquids but does not specifically mention snow globes. A holiday-related section of the TSA website, however, does specifically state that snow globes are not permitted in carry-on bags.

And don’t worry too much about that lost It’s a Small World souvenir. Like all Disney movies, this tale has a storybook ending: “I’m happy to report that I was able to find a replacement snow globe on the Disney web site,” said Kohler.

Categories: Security, TSA
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(From my post on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin)

Earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that children under 13 years old soon will no longer have to remove their shoes at airport security checkpoints.

That’s great news for families, of course, but also for any traveler who has had to wait in line behind a 3-year-old balking at being parted from his Spider-Man sneakers.

I asked Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein to explain what families, children and general travelers need to know about the new kid-friendly checkpoint procedures.

Q: What will be different?

A: The modification is that we will allow kids 12 and under to leave their shoes on. We will also permit multiple passes through the metal detector and advanced imaging technology by children to clear any alarms as well as [employ] the greater use of explosives trace detection. The idea is that these changes in protocol will ultimately reduce — though not eliminate — pat-downs of children that would have otherwise been conducted to resolve alarms.

Q: Will there be exceptions?

A: Yes. Children may be required to remove their shoes, and could still undergo a pat-down, if anomalies are detected during security screening that cannot be resolved through other means. These changes will allow officers to better focus their efforts on passengers who are more likely to pose a risk to transportation while expediting the screening process.

Q: When will it start?

A: The changed procedures are already in effect at many airports, with full implementation expected by Sept. 26.

Q: Weren’t some airport already doing this?

A: In August, we tested the new procedures in a pilot at six airports: Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Houston (IAH) and Denver. Those pilot sites were selected based on airports that had a higher volume of travelers in the desired age range to allow for a better overall sample during our testing.

Q: What tweaks were done in response to the testing?

A: For security purposes, we can’t get into that. But here’s an interesting factoid: Children in the 12-and-under age range represent about 3 percent of all passengers, although during peak travel seasons at certain airports, children may make up about 8 percent of the passengers.

(Photo courtesy TSA)

Categories: family travel, TSA
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If Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and a green Kermit the Frog puppet can be part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution, why not one of the gray bins from the modern-day airport security checkpoint.

That’s exactly what’s happened.

According to a guest blog post by Transportation Security Administration historian Michael P. C. Smith on the National Museum of American History website, the TSA recently donated several artifacts to the museum’s National September 11 Collection, including some original TSA uniforms, a firearm carried by a Federal Air Marshal and various pieces of aviation security technology, such as a gray security bin and a “put your feet here” mat.

Here’s a link to website for the Smithsonian’s Remembrance and Reflection page, which has details about the museum’s current exhibition of 9/11 items and pictures of many of the items in its September 11 collection.

Categories: Exhibits, Museums, TSA
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