How To Make Your Next Airport Trip More Exciting

[BearPipes-1]

...okay, I don't think this is intrinsically political, so let's restrain ourselves from making it so, and enjoy the fruits of this writer's labor:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security

I'm a rule follower, so I'd much rather not fly than probe for the limits the way he describes.

Safe travels to all!

-Mike.

[germdoc]

Wow that's scary.

This echoes similar problems with the govt's bioterrorism defense or pandemic flu plan...

My take on this is that it gives the govt. something to do and "reassures" the public that something is being done until the next catastrophe strikes. Of course, the new crisis is never exactly the same as the old crisis, so you can't really prepare for it. Don't tell the public that, though.

[jackellis]

I agree 100% with every point in the story. The cost and inconvenience are astronomical.

TSA now wants to impose a similar security regime on private aircraft, mostly jets and large turboprops. Why? Because they could be used as weapons. It turns out that most jets can only carry about 1,000 pounds of stuff other than fuel, and their fuel loads are also limited to a few thousand pounds. Small potatoes compared with the tens of thousands of pounds of explosives that could be packed in a semi-trailer.

[LinuxRandal]

A couple of years? ago, there was an article about the toothpaste, etc. disposal, from the stuff they confiscate from you. The author asked them where did it go and they said the dump, he wondered why it wasn't blown up by the bomb squad since it is taken as hazardous.
I wondered what would they do if a tube DID blow up and killed somebody driving the dump truck (could they be charged?).
After Oklahoma city, they changed parking around some government buildings downtown. You can't park by them, but UPS, Fed Ex, etc. park right by the doors and deliver. You tell me, hypothetically, if you were a terrorist, would you have a problem killing a driver, loading a truck of that up with explosives, and making a delivery?
I've known at least two people who traveled on planes with knives, unknowingly and I know, nothing is foolproof, but they can't handle serious questions, and have no tolerance for humor since, the people this is designed for, can't think for themselves.

[gsmittle]

Wow, I don't even know how to respond...

I don't fly much myself, but when #1 Son flew to Russia last summer I was amazed by all the ways I spotted to get around or through security. The author's right--it's all theatre....

In my youth (and sometimes now) I used to amuse myself by seeing if I could get into restricted/authorized personnel areas. It's amazing how far you can get if you are cleanly dressed and act like you know what you're doing. The two times I was ever questioned, I fell back on "I'm lost and I don't know how I got here." Both times I was pointed toward the exit but not walked to it. All I had to do was wait until Helpful Person was out of sight, then go somewhere else.

g.

[Gator95]

Yep- it's all 100% crap at the airport. We've just spent lots of money trying to look like we're 'doing something' without any real results. I've got to think any terrorist sleeper-cell agents have to be laughing their a$$ off watching us all walk through the x-ray line in our socks or barefoot.

[shoottx]

TSA is affectionately know as "Thugs Standing Around"

The $7B budget is the largest amount of money ever spent for a stage production to entertain the public. The show is there to justify more government, not more efficiency or safety.

As a frequent flier (over 2 1/2 million miles) I can tell you TSA is an absolute waste of money. There are thousands of ways to beat security, intentionally and unintentionally. I have carried many prohibited items on planes by accident, passing through security while having other non-threatening stuff "removed by security".

[Kristofor]

Excellent, so far everyone responding has realized what a farce the so-called transportation security process is... Please keep spreading that message.

Unfortunately, when I talk to people about this issue very often I hear things like "I don't mind the inconvienience as long as it means we're safe". But of course you're hardly any safer than you were before you had to jump through these hoops.

It makes me so frustrated to have to spend billions to be hassled for little to no real benefit... <whip cracking> Thank you TSA, I didn't want my water, deoderant, or other liquid/gels may I have another, <whip cracking> Thank you TSA I love walking in my socks through puddles where snow has melted from my fellow traveler's shoes may I have another........

Geez Mike, did you have to bring this up, normally it only bugs me when I'm waiting in line at the airport

[germdoc]

Long story short--at Tel Aviv airport, one of the most secure in the world, I inadvertently got into a lounge area only for persons who had gone through their 45-min. security screening by walking in through an exit.

When I tried this later, after I had already gone through security, they "caught" me and made me go through the whole 45-min. process again.

[docrowan]

One of the many points the author made that I agree with was the only two things that really changed security for the better - reinforced cockpit door and passengers aware that they need to resist terrorists.

The particular scheme used to destroy the twin towers and damage the Pentagon will never be used again, but if it were, a group of red-blooded American men on any plane will ensure that it will not succeed. I'd rather join Bubba, Johnny, Tad, and Sal armed with our own pocket knives in resisting a group of nervous terrorist that are armed in the same way, rather than have nothing and the terrorists armed with something they've managed to slip past security.

[Rand]

I went to Mexico last year. At the airport on the way home I was put through 4 different security checks. They searched my checked baggage, made me walk through a metal detector, searched my carry on and did one more document check before being allowed to board the plane.
At the gate there was a duty free shop. I bought a couple of bottles of booze. I wasn't allowed to have the booze until I boarded the plane though. Someone handed me my package as I walked out of the building and headed to the plane.

So, after all that searching, I'm allowed to carry 2 glass bottles full of flammable liquid onto the plane! A broken bottle is a **** of a lot more intimidating than a box cutter. Stuff a rag or some paper towels in the other one and you've got a molotov cocktail.

The article is spot on. It's not to make us safe it's just a big show.