Just back from London’s Gatwick Airport. I got searched and my shoes were checked as well.
I have two questions about airport security measures being takens since 9/11.
There was a machine being used that I’d never seen before. It seemed to me that the guard had pulled someone aside and was rubbing a cloth along the inside of the person’s suitcase to check for something, possibly residue of some sort. Then the guard took the cloth and put it into a machine to check. Of course, with the large crowds and heightened security, I didn’t ask what was going on. Anyone know?
This story was told to me by someone who sat next to me on the flight. She said her 89-year old mother was searched going through security in the States for a domestic flight. Her mother was in a wheel chair and happened to be holding a bottle of water. The guards asked her to drink some of the water, possibly to prove it was not poisonous or toxic.
Why would this be effective, if the person who had the poison planned on hijacking a plane and ramming it into a building or something, wouldn’t they die shortly thereafter anyway? Could it be that they suspected it was a toxic gas (like Sarin) which could be dangerous if exposed in a small, enclosed area?
You are correct, Anahita; They’re checking for residue from explosives.
A couple of things here: First, if it was something undrinkable, the person carrying it would be likely to hesitate or shy away from taking a drink (even just for a moment). Second, if it were some volatile combustible, the guard may be able to smell its fumes.
The sniffing machines were in use before 9/11. They “sniffed” my carry-on bags the last time I flew out of O’Hare, and that was in the summer (June, IIRC) of '01.
I usually carry plastic water bottles filled with Snapple iced tea when I fly. Last time, I had four bottles, and security made me take a sip from each of them. (Security was also very confused as to why I would need so many bottles, and shocked that the flight from D.C. to San Francisco is five hours long.) I have also had my carry-on swabbed, but no shoe checks.
I flew out of Gatwick late September last year, and the security checking was exemplary. I got selected for the sniffer machine. The guy had a little circle of wire mesh that he rubbed inside my bag, with particular attention to the seams. He told me the sniffer looks for explosives residue, but also checks for drug residue.
