Safety

Guns, grenades and other weapons to leave home

Guns, Safety, Security, ,

I spent a lot of time chatting with TSA folks last week while working on an article about guns and other prohibited items travelers keep trying to take through airport security checkpoints.

To be honest, it gave me nightmares.

Especially after a TSA spokesperson sent me a photo of a shipment of snakes discovered at one airport (I didn’t dare open that attachment) and this photo of a display board of “relinquished” weapons.

(Photo courtesy TSA)

I know of two airports – Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – that have exhibits like this at their security checkpoints.

Anyone know of others?

Staying alive at the airport and on the airplane

Health, Safety

Late last month, as a red-eye Delta flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta was preparing to land, crew members found an unresponsive passenger in the jet’s lavatory. Medical professionals were on the flight but, when the plane landed, authorities confirmed that 61-year-old Michaele O’Neil Carnahan had passed away.

Having a passenger die on an airplane is a very sad and, airline officials insist, very rare occurrence. Yet, given how many people are up in airplanes at any one time, it’s bound to happen.

But why let it happen to you, someone you love — even an annoying seatmate — if it doesn’t have to? Experts say there are steps you can take to make sure you “arrive alive.” Some of their tips are common sense. Others may surprise you.

And a few may just save a life

Find out more in my Well-Mannered Traveler column posted today on MSNBC.com.


Sea-Tac Airport: “Pay no attention to the dead people on the runway”

Safety,

The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to test their airfield disaster preparedness and response at least once every three years.

That’s probably a good thing.

But airport runways are busy places, so it’s sort of hard to go all out and have a “true to life” test of what it would be like if there was a real disaster.

Luckily, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has a runway that’s not yet operational. So they’re putting it to good use: today, between 9 am and noon, Sea-Tac’s soon-to-be-activated third runway will be used to conduct a full-scale emergency exercise simulating an aircraft crash.

They’ll be 100 volunteer ‘victims’ strewn about next to a mock-up aircraft fuselage smack in the middle of the runway and lots of wrecked cars. Dozens of police and fire agencies will “respond” with fire engines and aid cars.

Sounds gruesome; but if Sea-Tac Airport does have an airfield disaster, it’s good to know they’ve at least had a run-through on the runway.

Can’t you just hear the pilot’s announcements today? “Ladies and gentlemen: don’t be alarmed by all those dead people on the runway.”

This is only a test….

A whale, a panda, and a friar go to the airport…

Safety, Security,

Heard that one before?

On July 4th, San Diego International Airport (SAN) introduced a new set of videos at the security checkpoints. Starring roles are played by the San Diego Zoo’s Bamboo Bear, Legoland’s Johnny Thunder, the San Diego Padres’ Friar, and Shamu from SeaWorld.

Want to see a whale going through the metal detector? I did – but I didn’t have a trip to SAN planned anytime soon.

So I’m pleased to see that the airport has posted the video on YouTube.

Fly the skittish skies

Safety

“Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.”

No matter what your pilot tells you, taking a plane trip these days is likely to be irritating, uncomfortable and, often, quite maddening.

For millions of people it’s all that and absolutely frightening.

Despite statistics that tell us flying is one of the safest modes of travel, many people will only fly if they have to. Others are so afraid of flying that they will never travel by air at all. And when someone is too afraid to fly they can end up grounding not only themselves, but their families, their vacations and their careers.

Where can fearful fliers go for help? To the airport! In my At the Airport column posted on USATODAY.com, I profile several fear of flying classes offered by airports and by airlines, including the Air France “Anti-Stress” class that includes “pretend engine-failure” in a flight simulator.

Anti-stress class, courtesy of Air France

Save a life on a layover at Detroit Metro Airport

Safety

AEDs – Automated External Defibrillators – are standard items at airports these days and there have been plenty of instances where these devices have made the difference in saving lives.

Do you know how an AED works? I don’t and I should. We all should. And if you have a few minutes to spare at Detroit Metro Airport today or tomorrow (June 5 o r 6th) you can learn how.

To mark National CPR/AED Awareness Week, the Southeastern Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross will be at the airport showing folks how to use an AED. For free! If you’re there, I urge you to stop by. The life you save could be …. mine!

Look for the display table by the water feature, post-security, in the McNamara Terminal.

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Sleep-over at DFW! You bring the s’mores.

Delays, Safety,

American Airlines canceled another 500 flights on Tuesday to check a wiring issue on their fleet of MD-80 airplanes. 193 of those canceled flights were scheduled to depart from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Some displaced travelers have been put up at hotels. Others got out of there on non-MD-80 flights. Still, a lot of people are spending the night stuck at the airport.

Luckily the folks at DFW are prepared for this sort of thing. They’re treating this incident like a weather event and have brought out cots, blankets, diapers, formula and other sleep-over necessities.

They’ve also put their emergency “concession plan” into operation: a few bars are staying open until 2 a.m. and a few restaurants will stay open all night.

Let’s just hope no one starts in with those scary ghost stories…