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This is No Game

News & Happenings

August 27, 2007

Photo of TSO holding the two knives

As an international film crew captured the moment, Transportation Security Officer John Bilotta of Chicago O'Hare International Airport checked a passenger's carry-on bag - and found two large knives. The recent checkpoint drama will help showcase TSA's layers of security for European audiences. The incident also underlines how detecting dangerous prohibited items helps keep the traveling public safe.

In the year after a terrorist plot was derailed on Aug. 10, 2006, transportation security officers intercepted more than 8 million prohibited items, including nearly 1 million knives. In addition, on average, a gun is found daily. The Aug. 10 plot - which resulted in restrictions on liquids, aerosols and gels that may be brought on aircraft - involved an attempt to use liquid explosives to blow up planes flying from the United Kingdom to the United States.

The passenger at O'Hare, a woman, was interviewed and it was found she was not familiar with TSA regulations. She was not arrested.