Six 12-Gauge
Flares: You know they have
little buttons above your seat for when you need a flight attendant, right? I
doubt you need signal flares to get their attention. These six flares
were found by our Officers at Milwaukee (MKE).
Body Scanner
Discoveries This Week –
There were seven incidents this week where drugs were found on passengers using
imaging technology. Items were found everywhere from pockets to the groin area
at LAX, ELM, SMF, OGG, PGD, CHS and TPA. We’re not looking for drugs, but
finding these nonmetallic items in areas where explosives could also be hidden
is a testament that the technology works. In addition to these discoveries,
there was also a passenger at Anchorage who attempted to sneak in a tube of
toothpaste by placing it in her groin area. This was an attempt to get it through after we had already caught it in her bag earlier. If you’re not familiar with why toothpaste
is prohibited, you can read about our liquid policies here.
No Smoking: Smoking has been banned on flights for
quite some time now, so please leave your smoke grenades at home. A live M-18
smoke grenade was discovered in checked baggage at Las Vegas (LAS).
Concealed
Knives: It’s one thing to
forget that you had a knife in your bag, but when you intentionally conceal it,
it raises eyebrows. Officers in Wilmington (ILM) found two knives a
passenger tried to conceal in their suitcase: a pocket knife wrapped in a
computer cable and a kitchen knife hidden inside the lining of the bag near the
pull handle support.
People Say the Darndest Things - Here are examples of what not to say at the airport. Statements like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience lots of other passengers if the checkpoint has to be evacuated:When asked if he had any prohibited items in his bag, a passenger at New York Kennedy (JFK) replied: “Yes, I have a bomb.”
Miscellaneous
Prohibited Items - In
addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also
found firearm components, realistic replica firearms, stun guns, brass
knuckles, an extraordinary amount of knives, ammunition, and batons.
Firearms - Here are the firearms our Officers found
in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.
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.
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
