TSA inspector damages planes and causes major flight delays

by Jamie Rhein on

As one of the duties to make sure air travel is safer, TSA inspectors check planes for security issues while the planes are parked.

Unfortunately, knowing which parts of planes should not be touched, and what a ladder looks like is a skill set that still needs some fine tuning.

According to this ABC News report, an inspector at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport used sensitive instrument probes as handholds while climbing into nine American Eagle airplanes. These TAT probes, pictured, are important to the operation of flight computers. As a result, 40 commuter flights were delayed.

At the time, the TSA agent was attempting to determine if the aircraft could be broken into and an agency official is quoted as saying “Our inspector was following routine procedure for securing the aircraft that were on the tarmac.”

Next time, try using a ladder and a brick.

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TSA outlines new procedures for ‘checkpoint-friendly’ laptop bags

by Jeffrey White on

For some time now, Gadling has been following Transportation Security Administration plans to begin allowing laptops to be screened while remaining in special so-called “checkpoint-friendly” laptop bags.

This past Saturday, TSA began allowing certain bags to go through screenings with laptops still in them. The TSA has a helpful information manual up on its Web site right now, cautioning that this apparent relaxation in security procedures does not cover every laptop bag on the market.

In other words, not all laptop bags are checkpoint-friendly.

Only “butterfly-,” “trifold-” and “sleeve-style” laptop carriers are acceptable.

What the TSA is after is a clear view of your laptop. Since security officers are looking for evidence that electronics have been tampered with, they need a clear line of sight to note any irregularities in your laptop.

The TSA is quick to emphasize that just because you have an ostensibly checkpoint-friendly laptop bag, TSOs may still ask you to remove your computer if they cannot see it clear enough through the bag.

The TSA also has these useful tips:

  • Your laptop bag has a designated laptop-only section that you can lay flat on the X-ray belt. There are no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on-top of the laptop-only section
  • There are no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
  • There is nothing in the laptop compartment other than the laptop
  • You have completely unfolded your bag so that there is nothing above or below the laptop-only section, allowing the bag to lie flat on the X-ray belt

Check out Scott’s post of one TSA-endorsed line of laptop bags currently on the market.

Chaos in Punta Cana: Armed guards evict stranded U.S. Airways passengers from Dominican airport

by Jeffrey White on

There’s still no word on whether U.S. Airways has managed to sort out a horrific customer relations breakdown, after it kicked 274 of its passengers out of the Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic’s last Friday in the face of Tropical Storm Fay.

U.S. Airways had to cancel its flight from Punta Cana to Philadelphia due to the storm, which had caused the delays of several other flights. Also, some passengers have told television stations that U.S. Airways reps said crew members had run out of hours and therefore could not fly.

Now, the airline will certainly point to its contract of carriage, which states that it is under no obligation to put up stranded passengers and pay for their food in the event of weather delays.

However, it appears the manner in which passengers were treated could have been handled a bit, well, better.

Armed guards were sent in to evict the passengers from the airport, even though none had other accommodation secured. Reportedly one passenger came close to getting arrested after demanding answers from airline staff.

There were no hotel rooms available in the area, and passengers reportedly slept on a bus.

This weekend they were still struggling to get back to Philadelphia as U.S. Airways flights from the Dominican were severely overbooked.

The Consumerist has some video and a few eye witness reports.

Program to find gaps in TSA screening called a “waste of money”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Remember those government-run tests of TSA security in which an investigator posing as a passenger tries to sneak a bomb by airport security? You know, those tests that the TSA routinely fails?

You’d think the TSA might try to learn something from these repeated embarrassments– like why they keep happening and how to prevent them in the future. But a new report from the Government Accountability Office (my new favorite oxymoron) indicates that the investigators don’t actually investigate why the screeners fail to find the prohibited items.

The Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, recently called the covert tests a “waste of money,” saying that without a follow-up investigation as to why the guns, knives, and explosives weren’t found, the program is useless.

The TSA, for its part, claims that it has implemented a number of new strategies as a result of the undercover tests, such as using machines to peer under passengers’ clothing to find items metal detectors might miss. TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe says that although the undercover investigators don’t write down why the item managed to sneak through security, they disclose that information elsewhere, like at meetings.

In recent years, screeners at some airports have failed as much as 60% of the security tests the government has run.

Doesn’t that just fill you with confidence?

More here.

[HT: Hit & Run]

Troops Charged to Check Baggage on the Way to Iraq

by Josh Lew on

Much has been made of airlines charging for checked baggage. Most people have grudgingly accepted this trend with a “what else can we do” shrug.

What else can we do indeed. It seems that even soldiers on their way to a war zone are not immune from these charges. Military personnel have been hit with fees as they have tried to check heavy rucksacks for flights overseas. Some airlines, like American Airlines, have made allowances for troops, letting them check twice as much baggage as average passengers.

Also, the military is supposed to issue passes exempting troops traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan from baggage charges. Apparently, though, these aren’t reaching everyone.

According to a CNN report, many soldiers have been charged as much as $100 to check their rucksacks and field kits. American Airlines, for one, has promised a refund for those who had to pay up front.

I wonder how long it will take for that $100 to get to the war zone and how much longer it will take the soldier to cash the check.

The VFW has been lobbying the Air Transport Association of America to wave the fees, but a spokesman responded by saying that the organization had no control over the baggage fees charged by individual airlines.

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