Heathrow airport “sorry” after drenching passenger bags in raw sewage

by Scott Carmichael on

When it comes to destroying luggage, airlines and airports are in a league of their own. Bags have been set on fire, dropped in dumpsters and left out in the rain.

But a new incident at London Heathrow airport may take the new top spot in baggage mistreatment when 240 bags were drenched in raw sewage. The sewage came from a main waste pipe that burst at a luggage storage area.

A hygiene firm brought into the airport was unable to clean any of them, so the bags were all considered a total loss.

BAA, who operate London Heathrow will now pay up $1,600 per bag, putting the total damage at around $384,000 – plus whatever it costs to clean and repair the mess. Of course, the airport operator said they are “extremely sorry”.

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[Image: AP/Getty]

Is airport security a waste of time? Ten Gadling readers’ shocking answers

by Annie Scott on

The other day on the Gadling Facebook page, we asked what some might consider a loaded question:

“Do you think airport security is important or a waste of time? Why?”

We got a variety of responses both in the pro and con camps, and plenty of rants about how foolish airport security has perhaps become. Here are the top ten comments — a great litmus test of how airport security and the TSA is perceived by regular travelers.

1. “Huge waste of time. I think a lot of pilots agree on this. Bottom line: ineffective measures that have morphed into mindless procedures performed by (mostly) moronic TSA agents that yield no increased security and impact travel time. Even more, recently airlines issued statements that security regulations for flying into the US are expensive and unnecessary.” — Raul

2. “Have flown twice to Asia in the last few months … inconsistencies galore … have a friend that always carries this tiny box cutter in her purse … she forgot about it and now realized she has flown several times with it not being discovered … but they have taken her bottled water that she purchased in the airport.” — Kathleen3. “What Raul said. I was just at LAS flying back to NY and I forgot to take my liquids out. They didn’t even mention it and let me go right through. Also, plenty of plastic (non-metal detecting items) can be used as tools or weapons. Pathetic. Israel’s method of profiling is much more efficient.” … “Pilots shouldn’t have to go through the security the rest of us do — if they are compromised they can take the damn plane down! They don’t need explosives or anything else to do that.” — Alyson

4. “Different airports have different requirements or strictures. If it’s not allowed at one airport, it shouldn’t be allowed at ANY of them.” … “Airlines don’t like security when it impacts their bottom line, but they’ll be the first to admit that having a plane go down due to an unchecked bomb hurts their bottom line even more.” — Jennifer

5. “It is important but they need to seriously streamline it and take a page out of the European countries airport security systems.” — Lori

6. “After a pat down I always have to ask ‘Should I tip you?‘” — Rob

7. “It’s called security theatre.” — George

8. “Honestly, I think the whole thing is designed to keep the sheeple calm because there really is nothing ‘they’ can do to keep us safe. If terrorists want to take down a plane or use it to take down buildings (again? puh-lease, that is so 2001, the terrorists are up to bigger and better things) they will. with these ridiculous so called security measures, the terrorists have won — we have changed our way of life because of them.” — Alyson (again)

9. “I’ve never worked out why 75 year old ladies need to take their shoes off when they’re only flying internally within the UK. The issue is not whether security is important, it’s whether security checks are valid and efficacious. I don’t believe they are. We should be profiling, rather than searching laptops and shoes. The terrorists will always move on. They must be clutching at straws if they’re putting 300mg of HE into toner cartridges on cargo planes; or perhaps the ‘terrorist’ was simply a nut-case.” — Stewart

10. “Security is important. It needs to be beefed up, tho. I was a flight attendant for 42 years with 2 airlines. I remember when we didn’t need it. Now, we need it.” — Vicki

Got additional comments? Want to join in the conversation? Visit Gadling on Facebook.

[Photo by redjar via Flickr.]

Disguised Asian stopped in Vancouver — best disguise ever

by Grant Martin on

Remember a few years back when you watched Mission Impossible III and Tom Cruise kept pulling off layer after layer of his secret masks to reveal a different identity? That stuff was all make believe, right? Right?

Well, that technology might be closer than we all thought. Canadian authorities are investigating a recent case where a young Hong Kong citizen boarded a flight bound for Vancouver disguised as an elderly Caucasian man. He made it through security with a fake passport and mask, boarded the aircraft and got away with the whole deception, until passengers and staff got wise onboard.

Apparently, the passenger (whose motives are still unclear) visited the lav during the flight and magically transformed from an elderly white man with “very young hands” to an early-twenties Asian — at which point passengers got suspicious. Upon arrival in British Columbia he was detained by the Canadian authorities.

The fact that he got away with the entire charade is in and of itself remarkable, especially considering the advanced screening technology that airport security now employs. But looking at his photo as profiled by CNN, could you tell the difference?

Here’s a tip for next time though, would be counterfeiter: change your shirt.
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New York City area airport rules aren’t doing enough to stop delays

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you’re flying to or through the New York City area, bring a book Kindle. You’ll probably be at the airport for a while. A new U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General report says that airports in this part of the country aren’t measuring up, which disrupts air travel nationwide.

According to the Associated Press, the report says that “scheduling rules continue to put too many planes in line during bad weather.” It adds that the “limits imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports in 2008 are too generous and are based on good weather conditions, resulting in a glut of flights when the weather turns ugly.”

The bottom line? Twenty-eight percent of all flights coming into the Newark Liberty International Airport wind up delayed or just canceled, as of August 2010. For LaGuardia and JFK, the rate was around 26 percent. Those aren’t good odds for passengers.

[photo by PetroleumJelliffe via Flickr]

Europe blocks cargo and mail from Yemen after terror attempt

by Scott Carmichael on

As can be expected after a major terror attempt, international governments are making major changes to their security procedures to prevent any repeats.

The first changes involve how cargo is handled – because not surprisingly, a lot of the way cargo is screened had been ignored for years, while airports focused on shoes and bottles of shampoo.

According to a BBC report, the only reason things didn’t end in disaster was because a recently captured al-Qaeda member turned himself in and told authorities about the bombs. This means that despite Yemen being a known home to terrorists, bombs could simply enter the international skies in a UPS box.

Now this huge hole has been discovered in the way cargo is screened, the temporary solution has been to simply block all cargo coming from Yemen. In the United Kingdom, Somalia has been added to the list of countries on a no-cargo list. As of right now, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Canada and the United Kingdom have all put a hold on any cargo, and some of these countries have even banned inbound mail. Germany also banned passenger flights from Yemen, which means Italy is the only country still allowing passenger air travel from Yemen.

Not entirely surprising is the fact that the man behind the tips is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who started making bombs after he was released.

If there is such a thing as an upside to this most recent event, it is that passengers should not be impacted too badly, but anyone who does regular business with Yemen may find life becoming slightly more complicated.

[Image: AP]