Hacker installs video camera in checked luggage

by Grant Martin on

Ever wonder what happens to your luggage after you give it to the ticket agent and it gets swallowed by the conveyor belt system? Or why you always seem to have that note from the TSA after you get your bag back saying that they dug through your bag and helped themselves to your gummy worms?

Computer programmer Algormor was curious about why his bag kept getting molested by the TSA every time he traveled, so he finally got fed up and installed a camera inside of it. Leaving the film rolling, he checked his bag on a few trips and recorded what happened in the airport innards. His talk on the whole setup and execution was featured at The Last Hope conference earlier this year, but until a few days ago he hadn’t posted the video.

For all of your conspiracy theorists, what he found unfortunately won’t floor you. His videos show a lot of time on conveyor belts, the camera vibrating all around and the general boringness that many would expect from a luggage system. No fiddling, rifling through or malice from the TSA.

Perhaps the most interesting (least uninteresting) parts seem to be on the leg between Indianapolis and Chicago where you see a TSA fella pick up the bag, flip it over and go back to text messaging. On next trip around on the conveyor belt he’s taking a break.

Big deal. But for those curious about baggage handling systems, a fun little tour. Check out the videos at algormor.org.

“Bomb” bag passes through security at Brisbane airport

by Abha Malpani on

When a large bag with the word “bomb” written on it passes through airport check-in without question, there’s got to be a problem with their security system. This is exactly what happened at Brisbane’s Domestic Airport at a Qantas counter, ultimately causing a 40 minute delay.

The bag was only questioned once the baggage handlers saw the “bomb” bag and raised an alarm. The bag, still unscreened (!), was then dragged through the populated airport before it was opened and checked. Fortunately it turned out to be a false alarm.

This made me think: 1) Why would anyone choose to travel with a bag that has “bomb” written on it? 2) How on earth could that be missed on check-in, and then dragged through the airport without being screened first? What if there really was a bomb in it?

Anyway, the case has been referred to the police and the Transport Worker’s Union at the Brisbane airport have demanded an investigation of the airport’s security system.

Luggage fiasco at JFK International Airport vexes American Airlines

by Jeffrey White on

American Airline staff in Terminal 8 at JFK International Airport are still sorting through a pile of left luggage after a computer mishap yesterday derailed the terminal’s baggage system.

Thousands of customers abandoned hope of retrieving their bags, according to the Associated Press, and instead left the airport with the hope that AA would right the problem and deliver their luggage soon.

The error caused flight delays to ripple through Terminal 8 throughout the day yesterday.

The computer error first surfaced early in the morning yesterday, when the software that reads the bar code on each checked bag failed. After that employees began having to sort baggage by hand, and soon became overwhelmed by the volume, the AP says.

AA tried to delay incoming flights up to 90 minutes to relieve the stress on baggage handlers.

Some bags were diverted to LaGuardia airport and put on other flights, the AP says.

In response to the computer failure, AA waved its extra baggage charge for passengers checking fewer than three bags.

TSA considering allowing passengers to keep shoes on

by Anna Brones on

Remember the time when you wore your heaviest pair of shoes on the airplane to leave as much space as possible in your baggage? Then came increased airport security and increased security checks, and removing your shoes meant wearing something that would come off easily; there’s nothing worse than holding up the security check line because you have to untie your hiking boots.

It’s true; the removal of shoes is not the TSA’s most popular policy (then again, do they have a popular one???) On the TSA’s blog removing shoes is even compared with “root canals and doing your taxes.” That’s why the TSA is currently testing some new shoe scanners in LAX.

During the trial period passengers will still be required to remove their shoes once they get to the magnetometer. But if all goes well, this might be the end of shoe removal, allowing you once again to wear whatever footwear — no matter how large and obnoxious to take off — on your next flight, hassle free.

[Via Jaunted]

Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport is world’s busiest hub

by Jeffrey White on

Back in January Justin posted on Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport topping the nation’s busiest airports list in 2007 for the second year in a row.

Airports Council International released its annual report in Geneva on Tuesday, which ranked Atlanta as the busiest airport in the world for 2007, ahead of Chicago’s O’Hare and London’s Heathrow, the Associated Press reports. It isn’t close, really.

Atlanta saw 89.4 million passengers come through its arrival and departure halls in 2007, up 5.3 percent from the previous year. O’Hare was second, with 76 million passengers and Heathrow third with 68 million.

Rounding out the top-10 busiest airports in the world are:

  • Tokyo Haneda (67 million passengers)
  • LAX (62 million)
  • Paris Charles De Gaulle (59.9 million)
  • Dallas-Fort Worth (59.7 million)
  • Frankfurt (54.2 million)
  • Beijing (53.6 million)
  • Madrid (52.1 million)