I’ve not been through Moscow in many years… they were pretty easy when I was there but it for a flight to the former Soviet Union from Sheremetevo 1.
Is there a rumor mill, or internal stories among the screeners? Incidents that are passed down, maybe with details exaggerated? Stories about other airports and problems there?
I’m always curious about the internal mythology of companies.
What was the oddest or most outrageous thing she found? Or the top three?
And re: the shoe bomb thing- it was one guy, one time. Yep, millions of us have to run around barefoot or in stocking feet on a gross airport floor because of one idiot.
I’ve been through some pretty strict screening before. I remember flying from Greece to Turkey once–card tables were set up at check-in and your checked baggage was opened and thoroughly searched under the watchful eye of a man with a machine gun. Of course, the Greeks and the Turks hate each other, so this may be a special case.
Not true. We have such restrictions in the U.K. - and that was on an internal flight too. I believe (but do not know) that El Al has similar security procedures too.
I’m going to need to fly with my chemo, which comes in pre-loaded syringes and needs to be kept cool (gel packs when a fridge isn’t available). I’ve read the TSA site but I’m still somewhat fretful - the only “restricted” thing I brought on my last flight for a weekend trip was a tube of toothpaste as my sis had shampoo and stuff. What do I need to do to make this go swimmingly?
Several DECADES ago, boarding a ferry from Wales to Ireland, all bags were searched meticulously. Something about a bit of hard feelings between some of the Irish and some of the English, I seem to recall.
Also, entering a Caribbean island a few years back, we tourists were waved right through, but the residents were required to have every single item searched for contraband.
I myself unintentionally held up the line one time with my tatting shuttle (metal object of unfamiliar shape). One it was found, and I explained what it was and that I could not possibly hurt anyone with it even if I wanted to, and a second screener came over and recognized the object as something like her grandmother once had, all was cool. Now if I take it with me when I travel I put it in a plastic bag and put it in the bin separately.
If this can be answered, I’d love to know if she believes that the extra screening has actually prevented any incidents? If not from harmful objects being found, then from the common knowledge that such objects will not be allowed? A former co-worker whom I used to think was paranoid says that we are being “probed” all the time by people trying to find out just what they can and can’t get away with, so that “the next time” they will know how to evade security. Opinion?
Not necessarily something to joke about. Relatives of mine were ‘taken aside’ during such searches, and given the full bordering-on-illegal (if not just plain illegal) treatment of the time.
There’s still regular security checks at Belfast, where there’s at least a rummage through the luggage in the car, but I suspect this is more about drug/weapon/fuel smuggling than anything else.
Yeah, the shoe thing always seemed idiotic to me, too. EVERYONE and their mother knows that the shoes are going to be checked, so no one is going to put a bomb in there anymore. We’re just going to have people continue to try things until we won’t be allowed to have anything on the plane at all.
We can still bring packaged food? Maybe someone will candy coat little balls of C4 to make them look like M+Ms. If you want to get explosives on a plane, you’re probably going to be able to do it, especially if you’re working in a cell and everyone tries something a little different.
Sigh. Sorry rant over, on to a question. What do the different liquids look like under the x-ray? I mean, if someone fills a toothpaste tube with something other than toothpaste, how will it show up?
And it seems to me that there’s gotta be some liquid/paste explosive or corrosive or something that can cause considerable damage even in the 1 oz or less quantity.
“People can transfer between airports, so stories sometimes get spread that way.”
But she couldn’t think of any good juicy stories. Sorry!
-FrL-
“That should be totally fine. Put it in its own separate container, and tell somebody what it is before sending it through the X-Ray machine. Then you can put the separate container back inside the main carry-on afterwards.”
Does that help?
-FrL-
She didn’t have much to say here, unfortunately. She thinks that we’re much better able to detect bombs than we have been in the past, and also there are certainly fewer weapons on board planes in the hands and passengers than there would have been otherwise, such that it’s quite possible (maybe likely) that incidents have been prevented. (Drunk stupid guys with knives and guns are much more dangerous than drunk stupid guys without.) She can’t remember the details, but not too long ago a “cricket bomb” (whatever that means) was found in checked luggage. She doesn’t know if it was due to what you’ve termed “extra screening.”
As to probes, I would be suprised if there weren’t people doing that.
-FrL-
She reports that liquids and gels look exactly the same no matter what chemicals they are composed of.
Chemiccal detection happens when someone is pulled aside for secondary screening, whenever a bag is opened for visual inspection, and at random intervals.
She reports that at the briefings where these rules were introduced, they were told that less than 3.4 ounces is not enough to bring down a plane. (I’d be interested to know if there are informed people who know otherwise.) I suppose people felt a compromise needed to be reached between the amount of damage a person could do with certain amounts of explosive, and on the other hand the practical effects of various levels of restrictions in the airports.
-FrL-
Chemo syringes: Bring a copy of the prescription (the box with the pharmacy information will be fine). We had no trouble with this a few weeks ago at LAX.
huh. Even something highly explosive like C4 (although if someone has access to that they can probably get other stuff that’s more of a problem)? Or something less explosive than that could probably take out a window, right? Wouldn’t that depressurize the cabin? Gah, I don’t know anything about blowing stuff up or planes.
What’s her own opinion of the job in general? Is the screening as effective as it could be or as it needs to be? Whatever the effectiveness is, is the screening more intrusive and annoying to the passengers than it should or could be? What, if anything, would she change?
For just a couple of minutes or so. It’s not as though one has to walk around barefoot for any extended period.
And why do you say that the airport floor is “gross,” anyway? Did somebody spill his slurpy at the security checkpoint of the last airport you visited?
How is secondary screening distributed? Is it truly random, or is it profiled or matched to the name of the passenger in any manner?
What portion of passengers are selected for secondary screening?
I ask because I’ve flown about 14 segments in the past 12 months and I’ve gotten the SSSS about 8 times. Am I on a watchlist?
My wife reports that they find things hidden in shoes fairly regularly–mostly knives and razorblades.
-FrL-
How much kewl confiscated stuff, like Swiss Army Knives, did you bring home?