The latest items to bear scrutiny at U.S. airports are remote-control toys. Even a child with a toy car and the battery operated gizmo that runs it might be looked at more carefully. This doesn’t mean you can’t take your toy on board, but if you have one, you could get a pat down and have your hand-carried luggage searched. A University of Florida student is partly to blame. He made a video in Arabic that he posted on You Tube explaining how to turn such a toy into a bomb detonator. Of course, the guy was also arrested in August on explosive charges.
Lest we think that it just takes one to spoil the fun for the rest of us, there are other factors that have played into this decision, although nothing specific. There hasn’t been a plan uncovered, although, in Sri Lanka and India such toys have been used to explode a bomb. If you’re worried that your car key remote, or your remote channel changer for your TV that you happen to take with you on trips might flag you, don’t. They don’t count. (see article)