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It’s here! TSA’s Top 10 Best Catches of 2023

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Throwing knives, replica rockets, a knife hidden in a loaf of bread, meth tucked inside a jar of crab boil spices, and a 35mm projectile.

These are just some of the weird and prohibited items found by the TSA in travelers’ carry-on bags last year.

But wait, there’s more.

A knife hidden in the shoe of a prosthetic, a fully loaded firearm with 166 bullets, an explosive cartridge, hash inside a diaper (!), and an inert explosive device inside of a soda can.

Each year TSA gathers up some of the more bizarre items the agency’s officers encounter at the checkpoints and puts them together in a Top 10 reel.

Take a look. Below the 2023 reel, we’ve added some highlight reels of TSA’s Top Ten Best TSA Catches from past years.

Here’s the TSA Top Catches video that started it all back in 2016. When the charming and goofy Blogger Bob was on duty.

Blogger Bob was back with a great reel of finds in 2017.

Here’s the 2019 edition of the TSA’s Top 10 Finds.

And here’s the reel of TSA’s Top Ten Catches from 2022.

Did you mean to tip the TSA?

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At airports, it’s not unusual to hear an announcement asking a traveler to return to the security checkpoint to retrieve a left-behind item.

On Sunday, for example, while waiting for an early morning flight, we heard repeated announcements asking the person who left their wedding band behind at the checkpoint to come and get it.

But we’ve never heard an announcement asking the passenger who left behind 72 cents in the bottom of a checkpoint tray to come back to retrieve that cash.

What happens to all coins and cash left behind?

Turns out, the TSA (not the agents on duty) collects and gets to keep all the cash and coins left in the bins at the security checkpoints. And it can spend the money any way it chooses “to provide civil aviation security.”

How much money are we talking about?

Quite a bit.

In Fiscal Year 2022, travelers left behind cash and coins totaling $835,850.71 at the security checkpoints.

That’s up quite a bit from FY 2021, during which time TSA collected $653,687.64 in unclaimed money.

But not as much as during FY 2019, when $926,030.44 was collected.

According to a report that the Department of Homeland Security submitted to Congress in May 2023, the FY 2022 funds, combined with unclaimed money collected in prior years totaled $2,219,065.74.

Out of that total, the Department of Home Security reports, TSA obligated $995,032.52 in FY 2022 for wireless and telecommunication equipment to support checkpoint operations for field personnel, of which just $1,023.25 was expended during the year.

Where did travelers leave TSA the most tips?

The hub airports where travelers left the largest “tips” for TSA include:

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK): $59,980.00

Harry Reid International Airport (LAS): $43,228. 80

Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD): $39,873.68

San Francisco International Airport (SFO): $38,729.92

and Los Angeles International Airport (LOS): $35,019.45

By contrast, only $109.45 in unclaimed funds were left behind at Dallas Love Field (DAL).

TSA’s Cutest Canine Contest

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Move over airport therapy dogs. For just a moment.

It’s time to give some love to some of the more than 1000 dogs that work for the Transportation Security Administration sniffing out explosives and the components for explosives in airports around the country.

For several years now, TSA has been hosting an annual Cutest Canine Contest, inviting the public to weigh in on their favorites.

Ebbers, an explosive detection canine working at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) won the contest last year. And now it’s time to pick the cutest K9 for 2023.

This year’s contest is underway, with four finalists in the running:

Zita, a German Shorthair pointer who, like Ebbers, hails from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP);

Dina, a German Shorthaired Pointer who works at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS);

Zeta, (not to be confused with MSP’s Zita) a German Shepherd from Tampa International Airport (TPA);

and Joker-Jordan a Belgian Malinois assigned to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

Voting is taking place on TSA’s various social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and on Facebook.

Cast your vote(s) by Thursday, Aug. 24th at 1 pm (ET). The top dog will be announced on Monday, August 28th.

Why do people bring guns to the airport?

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TSA shares half-year tally of firearms found at airport checkpoints

Travelers are returning to airports and airplanes in record numbers.

And for some reason, many of those travelers are packing guns in their carry-on bags.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reports that its officers found 3,251 firearms at airport security checkpoints during the first half of 2023, which ended June 30.

The total represents an average of 18 firearms per day, of which more than 92% were loaded.

This is an increase from the first half of 2022 when Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) found 3,053 firearms at security checkpoints. 86% of those firearms were loaded.

In the first five days of July, TSA officers found an additional 90 firearms at airport checkpoints, bringing the total for 2023 through July 5 to 3,341.

In 2022, a record 6,542 firearms were found at airport checkpoints. So it looks like we’re on the path of breaking that record – again – in 2023.

What happens if you are caught with a firearm in a carry-on bag?

If a TSA officer finds a firearm in a carry-on bag, they’ll contact local law enforcement to check the contents of the carry-on bag, safely unload and take possession of the firearm and process the passenger in accordance with local laws on firearms. 

TSA will impose a civil penalty of up to $14,950, cancel the traveler’s TSA PreCheck eligibility for five years, and probably put them on an enhanced screening list.

Depending on local laws regarding firearms, the passenger may also be arrested or cited.

TSA finds lots more guns & so many sharp things

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) not only stops travelers from bringing dangerous and prohibited items onto airplanes, but it also tallies the finds.

And the agency shares information about some of the more unusual items that show up at the security checkpoints on social media.

For some reason, many travelers pack guns in their carry-on bags. And the number keeps going up.

In the first quarter of 2023, TSA officers found 1,508 guns at checkpoints. That’s 10.3% more than the same period in 2022.

Fake guns and ammunition – even replica versions can’t fly either

Stop it with all those sharp things

It’s not just guns. Check out these sharp objects travelers tried to bring on airplanes, and TSA’s cutting remarks about them.

 

Unclaimed Money at Airports. Who Gets It?

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This week (August 16 – 23) is National Coin Week. And it is a good time to remind travelers to keep track of all their loose change at the airport security checkpoints.

Passengers going through airport checkpoints are told to put all their carry-on items on the belt going through the x-ray machine and to empty their pockets as well.

You’ve seen it. And perhaps you do it. But many passengers dump the contents of their pockets directly into a plastic bin. And in the rush to reassemble their belongings and move along, a lot of people leave loose change – and cash – in the bins.

The money left behind adds up.

In a report filed by the Department of Homeland Security for Fiscal Year 2020 (the most recent report we can find), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) collected $517,978.74 in unclaimed money from airports around the county.

More than $19,000 of the funds was in foreign currency. And more than $37,000 of the funds were collected at airport checkpoints in Las Vegas.

TSA is allowed to keep the unclaimed funds left behind at checkpoints. And the agency can spend it as it wishes “to provide civil aviation security.” In FY 2020, for example, most of the funds TSA had in the kitty were used to purchase “masks, gloves, plexiglass shields, and other protection measures for travelers and TSA’s frontline workers,” according to the report.

Don’t Want TSA To Get Your Loose Change?

We expect a new report to be issued shortly on how much cash and currency travelers have been leaving behind at airport checkpoints. And we won’t be surprised if the numbers tick up because so many travelers are still working on relearning their travel skills.

But it’s pretty easy to avoid adding your cash to the TSA coffers.

Before you leave home, empty the loose change from your pockets into a small bag, or even an envelope, that you can slip into one of the larger bags you’ll be sending the x-ray machine. Or put that change into a zippered pocket in your coat or carry-on before you get to the checkpoint. Do the same with your wallet, so you decrease the chance of leaving way more than loose change behind, and you won’t tempt someone else to steal it.

Nominations for TSA’s Top Ten Catches of 2023

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It’s been just a few weeks since the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released its Top Ten Finds of 2022. And we already have news of some items found at airport checkpoints that might appear in the 2023 reel.

Snakes on a Plane. Almost

The Game of the Sociable Snake, c. 1890

This didn’t show up in TSA’s Top Ten Catches of 2022. But it should have.

A woman flying out of Tampa International Airport (TPA) had a boa constrictor in her carry-on bag.

The woman claimed that Bartholomew the boa was her emotional support pet, the TSA reports. But that story – and the boa – didn’t fly.

Replica Sniper Rifle Kit

Courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Firearms aren’t allowed in airplane cabins or in carry-on bags. Yet, passengers try to take them onboard all the time. In 2022, TSA found more than 6,000 firearms at airport checkpoints. And most of those firearms were loaded.

Toy guns are also on TSA’s no-fly list. That includes this replica sniper rifle kit discovered in a carry-on bag this week at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in New Hampshire.

In case you missed it, here’s TSA’s Top Ten Catches of 2022

Guns in Peanut Butter & Inside a Raw Chicken: TSA’s Top 10 Catches from 2022

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Officers for the Transportation Security Administration see a lot of stuff in the carry-on bags of passengers. Some of it is just fine for people to take on the plane with them. Other items, such as baseball bats, meat cleavers, and even Magic 8 balls, falls on the prohibited items.

So do knives, guns, and other items that are clearly weapons. Yet people try to sneak that stuff by all the time. In fact, even before the end of December, TSA found a record 6301 firearms in carry-on bags at airports. More than 88% of those firearms were loaded.

Some travelers forget they have a knife, gun, or some other prohibited item in their bag. Others know exactly what they’ve packed and go to creative lengths to try to get prohibited items past the checkpoint undetected.

The most outrageous items end up on the annual list of TSA’s Top 10 Catches.

This year, the list has some whoppers, including a gun found stuffed inside a raw chicken at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), gun parts inside a peanut butter jar at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and a knife inside a laptop at Richmond International Airport (RIC).

Here’s the full 2022 list, in a corny video put together by TSA.

The agency has been doing this year-end round-up for a while. And our favorites are still the early ones hosted by the late Blogger Bob” Burns. We’ve included his 2016 round-up below.

TSA’s first airport checkpoint turns 20

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Then: the first TSA Checkpoint was a BWI. Photo courtesy TSA

It feels as if the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has always been in charge of security at airports.

But TSA was created in November 2001, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

And, beginning on April 30, 2002, Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) became the very first airport in the nation to be ‘federalized.’ It became the first airport to have security screening taken over by the newly formed agency.

BWI and TSA officials marked that anniversary on Friday at the airport and shared background on what was happening at the time.

“The ‘TSA Start-Up Team’ at BWI built a ‘War Room’ on the lower level of C Concourse and began testing new screening methods, checkpoint designs, standard operating procedures, and more,” TSA said in a statement. “The team’s main tasks were to establish the new agency and its security mission and write policies and procedures that adhered to the requirements of the law that created TSA. They were to build a fully federalized workforce of security screening officers to replace private contract screeners.”

Many of the early Transportation Security Officers trained at BWI before they were deployed across the country.

Today there are 430 federalized airports and 64,000 TSA employees nationwide.

TSA Checkpoint at BWI now. Photos courtesy TSA

Traveling? You’ll still need to wear a face mask

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Yes, COVID rates are falling in most places. And yes, communities everywhere are lifting their face mask requirements. But the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has decided to buck the trend. TSA will keep the face mask requirement for travel on public transportation in place for at least another month after the planned March 18 expiration.

Here’s the agency’s statement:

At CDC’s recommendation, TSA will extend the security directive for mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs for one month, through April 18th.

During that time, CDC will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor. This revised framework will be based on the COVID-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data, and the latest science. We will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change.