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| Black Powder (CLE) |
Black
Powder At Cleveland – Over nine ounces of
black powder was discovered in a carry-on bag at Cleveland (CLE).
 |
| Garrote (BOS) |
Garrote
Discovered After BDO Referral – Behavior Detection Officers at Boston
(BOS) referred a passenger for additional screening. During the screening, a
serrated wire garrote was discovered in the passenger’s
carry-on bag.
Inert
Ordnance and Grenades Etc. – We continue to find inert hand grenades and other weaponry on weekly basis.
Please keep in mind that if an item looks
like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not.
When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can
cause significant delays. I know they are cool novelty items, but it is best
not to take them on a plane. Read here
and here on
why inert items cause problems.
 |
| Bandolier Line Charge (ORF) |
|
|
|
A
bandolier line charge was discovered after it alarmed in checked baggage at
Norfolk (ORF). It was determined that the item was inert and used by a
contractor who conducts demonstrations for the military. As I’ve said before,
we’re all too familiar with instructors and other people in this type of
business needing these sorts of items for their jobs. As with all inert
training items and replicas, we don’t know they’re not real until we’ve checked
them out. This can include evacuated baggage areas and closed checkpoints which
lead to delays and missed flights. People that need to travel with INERT items
should plan ahead and contact their preferred shipper about mailing the
training aids to their destination. Read here
and here on
why inert items cause problems at checkpoints.
Eight replica/inert grenades were discovered this week, one in a carry-on bag at Salt
Lake City (SLC), and five others in checked baggage – three at Harrisburg
(MDT), three at Anchorage (ANC), and one at San Diego (SAN). The three grenades
at MDT caused a 1-hour, 8-minute evacuation of the checked baggage area.
Items
in the Strangest Places
–It’s important to check your bags prior to traveling. If a prohibited item is
discovered in your bag, you could be cited and possibly arrested by local law
enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were
found in strange places.
- A
knife was discovered in a laptop at Denver (DEN).
- A
saw blade was discovered under the sole of a shoe in a carry-on bag at Ellis
(OAJ).
Stun
Guns – Eight
stun guns were discovered this week in a carry-on bags around the nation: One
each at San Francisco (SFO), Sacramento (SMF), San Juan (SJU), Pittsburgh
(PIT), Akron (CAK), Seattle (SEA), and two at Denver (DEN).
What Not
to Say at an Airport – Statements like these not only delay the people who said
them but can also inconvenience many other passengers if the checkpoint or
terminal has to be evacuated:
- A
passenger at Miami (MIA) asked the gate agent: “What if I have a bomb?”
Miscellaneous
Prohibited Items -
In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers
also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and
pellet guns, Airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of
sharp pointy things -- to mention a few…
Firearms
- Here are
pictures of some of the firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I
posted last Friday. See a complete list below.
You
can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be
declared to the airline.
You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms.
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should
familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of
travel prior to departure.
Unfortunately
these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about
these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are
finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the
throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up
with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder
to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on
an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these
items.
*In order to provide a timely
weekly update, I compile my data from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers
will vary slightly (increase) from what I report in the weekly updates.
However, any monthly, midyear, or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog
or elsewhere will not be estimates.
