The TSA has sunk to a new low
04-21-2008, 07:52 AM
#51
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2005
Position: Retired
Posts: 2,934
Before we jump on the TSA too hard...
If you were in charge of TSA, and had actionable intelligence that bad guys were trying to get 4 oz of shampoo through security using fake uniforms and fake airline IDs (from either actual or fictional airlines) what would you do? (Okay, the 4 oz of shampoo was a joke...but you get the point)
How would you advise your line employees (who aren't exactly leaving in droves to work in spacecraft development for NASA's manned mission to Mars) to check crew IDs? (How many of us would apply to work at TSA if on furlough? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?)
I'll bet you'd say to "question" anything that looks unusual.
Somebody said earlier that "we are not the enemy." That's true. But the enemy may very well be dressed like us and pretending to be us.
If you were in charge of TSA, and had actionable intelligence that bad guys were trying to get 4 oz of shampoo through security using fake uniforms and fake airline IDs (from either actual or fictional airlines) what would you do? (Okay, the 4 oz of shampoo was a joke...but you get the point)
How would you advise your line employees (who aren't exactly leaving in droves to work in spacecraft development for NASA's manned mission to Mars) to check crew IDs? (How many of us would apply to work at TSA if on furlough? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?)
I'll bet you'd say to "question" anything that looks unusual.
Somebody said earlier that "we are not the enemy." That's true. But the enemy may very well be dressed like us and pretending to be us.
I'd have a much easier time listening to this "trust the government" crap if GAO and TSA's own internal audits weren't showing how freaking inept the TSA is at stopping contraband and weapons. Take a look at the audits done at ORD and other big airports a few months back. They're too busy seaching grandma and her wheelchair to notice.
04-21-2008, 08:03 AM
#52
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: A320 FO
Posts: 281
Flying out of OTH the other day after visiting a friend EVERY single one of my bags was pulled from the belt and re-xrayed. Then the tray stacker told me he needed to take a peek at the bags (I had 3) as he looked through them he found the following suspicious items that he could not identify on his machine:
- iPod
- Change
- Calculator
As he pulled each item from the bag he said "oh, okay it's a ____". I honestly have to wonder how a screener could not have seen any of those items in someone's bag before. How embarrassing is it to be a uniformed pilot going to work holding up the entire security line for 5 minutes because a tray stacker doesn't know what an iPod looks like.
In another incident I was stopped while in uniform in a very immediate and stern fashion (the type of reaction you would expect if you were trying to carry a gun in your hand through the checkpoint) at PHX because I had a cookie in my hand. The screener instructed me to immediately step back and place my cookie in a bin to be x-rayed. A COOKIE! I asked the screener if it tested positive for deliciousness, which he did not find funny.
TSA is a joke, it does nothing to protect crew or passengers. Countless security experts have publicly stated that the system is broken and TSA refuses to fix it. Crew and pilots are not the problem, it is a waste of time and resources to spend 5 minutes digging through my bags looking for my iPod. Don't believe me?
"In all 21 airports tested, no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through. Even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags, no one discovered the materials." Source - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11863165/
The Tray Stackers Administration (TSA) is a waste of my time and tax money.
CrewPASS NOW!
- iPod
- Change
- Calculator
As he pulled each item from the bag he said "oh, okay it's a ____". I honestly have to wonder how a screener could not have seen any of those items in someone's bag before. How embarrassing is it to be a uniformed pilot going to work holding up the entire security line for 5 minutes because a tray stacker doesn't know what an iPod looks like.
In another incident I was stopped while in uniform in a very immediate and stern fashion (the type of reaction you would expect if you were trying to carry a gun in your hand through the checkpoint) at PHX because I had a cookie in my hand. The screener instructed me to immediately step back and place my cookie in a bin to be x-rayed. A COOKIE! I asked the screener if it tested positive for deliciousness, which he did not find funny.
TSA is a joke, it does nothing to protect crew or passengers. Countless security experts have publicly stated that the system is broken and TSA refuses to fix it. Crew and pilots are not the problem, it is a waste of time and resources to spend 5 minutes digging through my bags looking for my iPod. Don't believe me?
"In all 21 airports tested, no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through. Even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags, no one discovered the materials." Source - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11863165/
The Tray Stackers Administration (TSA) is a waste of my time and tax money.
CrewPASS NOW!
Last edited by TurboFan; 04-21-2008 at 08:07 AM. Reason: CrewPASS NOW!
04-22-2008, 07:01 AM
#54
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: CRJ/FO
Posts: 42
Before we jump on the TSA too hard...
If you were in charge of TSA, and had actionable intelligence that bad guys were trying to get 4 oz of shampoo through security using fake uniforms and fake airline IDs (from either actual or fictional airlines) what would you do? (Okay, the 4 oz of shampoo was a joke...but you get the point)
How would you advise your line employees (who aren't exactly leaving in droves to work in spacecraft development for NASA's manned mission to Mars) to check crew IDs? (How many of us would apply to work at TSA if on furlough? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?)
I'll bet you'd say to "question" anything that looks unusual.
Somebody said earlier that "we are not the enemy." That's true. But the enemy may very well be dressed like us and pretending to be us.
If you were in charge of TSA, and had actionable intelligence that bad guys were trying to get 4 oz of shampoo through security using fake uniforms and fake airline IDs (from either actual or fictional airlines) what would you do? (Okay, the 4 oz of shampoo was a joke...but you get the point)
How would you advise your line employees (who aren't exactly leaving in droves to work in spacecraft development for NASA's manned mission to Mars) to check crew IDs? (How many of us would apply to work at TSA if on furlough? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?)
I'll bet you'd say to "question" anything that looks unusual.
Somebody said earlier that "we are not the enemy." That's true. But the enemy may very well be dressed like us and pretending to be us.
I would implement crewpass! And until then not change a thing. Give crewmembers the freedom and respect (what's left of them) they deserve!
04-22-2008, 07:32 AM
#55
Sitting on the sidelines
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Posts: 436
I unfortunately had this happen in DCA. They didn't stop the belt, despite the fact that I was literally yelling "STOP THE BELT!!" and the bins got all bunched up and my laptop hit the floor, breaking into to several pieces. None of the TSA agents even looked to see what happened, even though it was a loud crash when it hit the floor.
As I picked up the pieces I asked to talk to a supervisor. One finally came over and I explained what happened. He handed me a tiny scrap of paper with the tsa website on it and told me to file a claim. After filing my claim and several follow-ups, I was denied any compensation for my loss (my hard drive crashed and I lost everything.)
As I picked up the pieces I asked to talk to a supervisor. One finally came over and I explained what happened. He handed me a tiny scrap of paper with the tsa website on it and told me to file a claim. After filing my claim and several follow-ups, I was denied any compensation for my loss (my hard drive crashed and I lost everything.)
04-22-2008, 07:37 AM
#56
Sitting on the sidelines
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Posts: 436
(An interloper from the fractionals - hope you don't mind.)
As a fractional pilot, we travel on the airlines every week to and from the plane, always on tickets. TSA is a big issue for us, because of the inconsistency. Some consider us pilots, let us use the short line and take through our liquids. Others consider us passengers. That's a challenge when company policy says we can't check a bag on the way to the plane at the start of a rotation.
My favorite was DEN, where the ID checker said my badge was no good because we didn't fly there (I didn't bother arguing my plane was across the ramp, just pulled out another ID). Thirty seconds later, I was wisked into the fast lane and allowed to carry my Diet Coke through the checkpoint because I was considered a pilot.....
As a fractional pilot, we travel on the airlines every week to and from the plane, always on tickets. TSA is a big issue for us, because of the inconsistency. Some consider us pilots, let us use the short line and take through our liquids. Others consider us passengers. That's a challenge when company policy says we can't check a bag on the way to the plane at the start of a rotation.
My favorite was DEN, where the ID checker said my badge was no good because we didn't fly there (I didn't bother arguing my plane was across the ramp, just pulled out another ID). Thirty seconds later, I was wisked into the fast lane and allowed to carry my Diet Coke through the checkpoint because I was considered a pilot.....
04-22-2008, 09:23 AM
#59
On Reserve
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: RJ
Posts: 12
What is the reason that some places think that they need a boarding pass when your crew badge is in their face? That happened to me the other day. This was after the initial screener told me and my GF that we weren't going to get on the plane because an earlier flight had been canceled and that it was pretty full. There was lots of seats open. Then as my GF goes through the metal detector(without it going off) the TSA chick there decided to pat her down. Strange.
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