TSA

Hidden Treasures: Air & Space Museum and beyond

aviation, Aviation history, History, , ,

In my new book, Hidden Treasures: What Museum Can’t or Won’t Show You, I’ve included (of course) a few aviation-related items.

The folks at the Daily Planet, the Air & Space Museum’s blog, took notice and this week included a story about the book and the featured items from the museum’s collection.

They started with Katharine Wright’s knickers. The ones she likely wore beneath the lovely, white lace dress she chose to wear when she accompanied her brothers, Orville and Wilbur, to the White house to receive the Aero Club of America award. The dress and the knickers and a wide variety of other items relating to the history of women and aviation are at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ohio_Cleveland_WrightKnickers-333x500

The Daily Planet story also notes that Hidden Treasures features Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit. It was designed to withstand the trip to the moon and back, but wasn’t expected to last longer than six months on earth – so is now kept in a cold vault at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia.

Neil Armstrong's spacesuit. Courtesy National Air & Space Museum

Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit. Courtesy National Air & Space Museum

Other aviation-related items you may want to read about:

The metal detector that screened terrorists at the Portland, Maine, airport on the morning of September 11, 2001. That’s on display at the TSA Museum at TSA headquarters in Washington, D.C., which is only accessible to employees and invited guests.

A metal detector which screened hijackers on the morning of September 11th.

A metal detector which screened hijackers on the morning of September 11th.

And the manual Colton Harris-Moore – the Barefoot Bandit- purchased (likely with a stolen credit card) to teach himself how to fly after stealing – and crashing – a small plane.

barefoot bandit

Here’s another link the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s blog post about the items and here’s another link to the book: Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can’t or Won’t Show You

The LAX Shooting and guns at airports

Airports, Guns, , ,

Friday night the details of how – and why – a man showed up at Los Angeles International Airport with a rifle and shot his way through Terminal 3 are still being pieced together.

A lot is already known.

The man doing the shooting has been identified as 23-year-old Los Angeles resident Paul Anthony Ciancia.

A TSA officer – 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez – was killed and perhaps a half dozen other people, including two other TSA officers, were injured.

And thousands of passengers at LAX and other airports around the country had a travel day seriously disrupted.

More than 700 flights were canceled or delayed. Close to 50 were diverted to other airports.

And pretty much everyone is shocked and freaked out.

Here’s a link to a story from by Brian Sumers and Larry Altman that does a really good job of describing the events of the day. Sumers was one of the reporters on-site and tweeting from LAX most of the day.

A lot more details will surely be revealed in the days ahead and we’ll be horrified by them all.

In the meantime, as it does most every Friday afternoon, the TSA released a tally of the number of guns found – but luckily not fired – at airport security checkpoints this week.

This week 29 guns were discovered at airport security checkpoints. 27 were loaded. 9 had rounds chambered.

And, as we know, one loaded rifle was used to wreak havoc at LAX airport.

TSA GUNS OCTOBER

Courtesy TSA

 

TSA: 99 firearms at checkpoints in 3 weeks

Security, ,

One thing we missed the past few weeks was the TSA Week in Review, which includes a report of the firearms and other prohibited – and sometimes really wacky – things TSA officers find at airport security checkpoints.

On Friday, we got a round-up that covers September 17, 2013 through October 17th, 2013 (dates inclusive of the partial government shutdown) and learned that during the past three weeks 99 firearms were found at airport checkpoints.

Of those 99 guns, 84 were loaded and 29 had rounds chambered.

SEA firearm 10-16 (2)

Courtesy TSA

What other prohibited items did your fellow passengers try to bring on board airplanes the past few weeks?

Fireworks, stun guns, daggers, inert hand grenades, brass knuckles and assorted other items.

Read the full list here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not TSA-approved. Ever

Guns, History, Museums, , , ,

Multi-bladed folding knife 3

The TSA’s plan to allow passengers to once again carry small knives on board airplanes got nixed a while back.

But even if it had gone forward the knife pictured above would never had made the, uh, cut.

Made around 1880 as an advertising item for a store window in New York City, the knife’s 100 “blades” include a cigar cutter, a button hook, a tuning fork and pencils.

Look closely and you’ll even spot a .22 pinfire revolver.

That tiny revolver is why the knife is on display at the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

The knife is on loan to the museum until 2015 along with 63 other historically significant firearms from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, which began collecting firearms in 1876.

Along with the many-bladed knife, the items on loan include a rifle made for Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia with a velvet cheek piece so that her royal face would not rest directly on the stock.

Catherine the Great rifle 2

(All images courtesy the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, via Buffalo Bill Center of the West)

Travel Tidbits: Firearms, Kosher meals & CPR Training

Food, Safety, , ,

A couple of travel tidbits for you:

TSA SEPT GUN

From theTSA Blog’s Week in Review:

This past week we marked the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and, during the week, TSA officers found 31 firearms in carry-on luggage at airport checkpoints.

Of those firearms, 27 were loaded and eight had rounds chambered. Officers also found stun guns (14), some big knives, airsoft guns and assorted other items most definitely on the prohibited items list.

Keep Kosher?

Travelers seeking Kosher meals when at the airport now have a new option at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Starting the week of September 24th, Chef Allen’s 2 GO in Terminal 3 will be offering a line Kosher packaged to-go items.

CPR-Training at the airport

On Thursday, September 19, some Southwest Airlines travelers at Mineta San Jose International Airport will be able to get training – in English or Spanish – in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

This is a one-time event, but if you’re interested in learning this valuable life-saving technique (which does require rescue breaths) keep in mind there’s an automated kiosk at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport where you can learn and practice on a dummy.

The kiosk was installed in July as a six-month pilot project, but the American Heart Association hopes to bring the concept to other airports.

TSA to extend PreCheck to 100 airports

Security, , ,

TSA PINK 2

 

Good news for travelers who hate taking off their shoes at airport security checkpoints: the TSA plans to extend its PreCheck program to an additional 60 airports and add extra PreCheck lanes to some of the 40 airports that already offer the expedited screening program.

This means that by the end of 2013, 100 airports will have some lanes set aside for pre-approved travelers who will not have to remove their shoes, light jackets and belts at the security checkpoints and who will be able to leave their laptops and little baggies of lotions and gels in their carry-on bags during screening.

The program currently applies to eligible passengers traveling on these airlines:

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

Hawaiian Airlines

United Airlines,

US Airways

Virgin America.

 

Two other airlines – JetBlue and Southwest – are still working out the details to join the program.

In addition to expanding the number of TSA PreCheck lanes, the TSA has been steadily expanding the type of passengers eligible to use the lanes.

Right now, eligible passengers include U.S. citizens in frequent traveler programs who get invited by their airline, U.S. citizens in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler program and Canadian citizens who are members of CBP’s NEXUS program. The TSA is also rolling out an application program that allows U.S. citizens to apply for the TSA PreCheck program – for an $85 fee.

Here’s a link to the airports that currently participate in the TSA PreCheck Program and here’s a link to the 60 airports the TSA is planning to add by the end of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guns at airports. Way too many at Atlanta airport

Guns, ,

ATL GUNS

The TSA discovered more than 1500 guns at airport checkpoints last year, and 100 of those were found in the carry-on bags of passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

In fact, according to a press notice the airport sent out on Wednesday, during 2012 more firearms were confiscated at ATL than at any other airport. This year ATL leads the pack as well, with 67 firearms found so far.

That’s not the list the airport wants to be leading, so on Thursday airport officials and representatives held a press conference/refresher course on the right and wrong ways to travel with firearms and the legal consequences for violating the federal and local laws.

“If you attempt to bring a gun through these checkpoints, you will be breaking federal law, and you will be arrested,” said Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Louis Miller, who explained that violators will miss their flight, be taken to jail and be subject to prosecution and fines up to $7,500.

Want to see what kinds  of – and how many – guns are found at this airport and others each week? The TSA Blog presents a weekly review of the firearms (including a count of those found loaded and chambered) and other prohibited items discovered.

The list of what people simply ‘forget’ they have in the carry-on bags is often quite alarming.

You’ll see.

 

TSA Week in Review – bonus edition

Guns, ,

Everyone needs a break or an actual vacation in the summer time.

Even Bob Burns, the TSA employee who puts together the weekly round-up on the TSA blog of all the firearms, stun guns, knives and miscellaneous other items on the prohibited items list that are discovered on passengers and in their carry-on at airport security checkpoints.

I don’t know for sure if Blogger Bob was at the beach last week, but I do know that last week there was no Week in Review on the TSA blog.

And I missed it. The blog is a bit terrifying because so many people either try to sneak loaded guns and other pretty dangerous items onto airplanes or they carry those things around with them everyday and just forget that they have those things with them. I’m not sure what’s worse.

The report is back now with two week’s worth of ‘findings,’ including 77 firearms, of which 69 were loaded and 21 had rounds chambered.

MCO firearm

Courtesy TSA

Also found: 27 stun guns, a cane sword, knives, brass knuckles and a bunch of cocaine hidden inside candles.

You can see all the details – and some photos – on the TSA Blog

 

Travel Tidbits: contests, TSA finds & fast airport access

Contests

Catching up on some travel tidbits from the week:

You can’t win if you don’t play

prizes

In a recent contest round-up, I missed one from Hilton HHonors and ATT called Travel is Calling You. Include your phone number when you fill out the form and then be sure to answer your phone for a chance to win two free night hotel night certificates, a $500 American Airlines gift card and a $500 American Express gift card. The contest runs through August, 2013.

TSA makes it easier to get through security – for a fee

TSAS PRECHECK

Although the TSA’s plan to allow small knives and some currently prohibited sports equipment back on planes as carry-on items is still on hold, the agency is going forward with some programs.

On Friday, in fact, the TSA announced that it is expanding the popular TSA Pre✓ program, which gives expedited screening to pre-approved travelers.

Until now the main way to get into the program that allows passengers to keep their shoes and light jackets on at the airport security checkpoints was to be invited by an airline’s frequent flier program or pay a fee and get enrolled in the Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS Trusted Traveler programs.

But later this year, travelers who haven’t yet qualified for the program other ways will be able to apply for the TSA Pre✓ program online and, after clearing a background check, go to an enrollment site to show identification and get fingerprints on file.

The first two enrollment sites will open at Dulles International and Indianapolis airports, and there are plans to open other enrollments sites at a later date.

This next stage of the TSA Pre✓ program won’t be free. It will cost $85 for a five-year membership; $17 a year.

More details here.

And, while we’re talking about the TSA, each Friday the TSA Blog issues a report about the firearms, knives and other prohibited items that travelers try to take with them through airport security checkpoints.

This past week, 49 firearms were nabbed at checkpoints. 36 were loaded and, of those, 10 had rounds chambered.

Houston firearm

Loaded gun found at an airport checkpoint in Houston. Courtesy TSA

You can read more about the knives, throwing stars, fireworks and other, sometimes truly bizarre and prohibited items TSA officers found at airport checkpoints this past week here.

What’s with all those guns at airports?

Security, ,
Guns

Courtesy TSA

 

 

On its blog each week, the TSA posts a round-up of some of the unusual and prohibited items the agency’s officers finds in carry-on bags and checked luggage at airports.

The list usually includes a wide array of guns, stuns guns, ammunition, potentially explosive items and many items that are safe – but which look dangerous, such as perfume bottles shaped like grenades.

The list-within-a-list that always grabs my attention is the number of guns and firearms found in carry-on bags at airports.

The rules are very clear on this: no guns on airplanes.  Yet each week travelers show up at security checkpoints packing guns. And, often they are loaded (The guns, not the people; though sometimes, probably both.)

The TSA says most of the people caught with guns in carry-on bags are not terrorists – ‘merely’ people who forgot they had a gun in their bag.  But, to me,  that’s still alarming.

Here’s this week’s tally: of the 57 firearms found at airports, 47 were loaded and 14 had rounds chambered.

That’s not quite the record number of  firearms – 65 – reported a few weeks back.  But it’s darn close. And summer has just started…

Gun Numbers 6-21

Chart courtesy TSA