Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full

by Grant Martin on

For any of you aspiring commercial pilots out there, a word of advice: buzzing the tower is not cool. You are not Tom Cruise, and that jumbo jet is not an F-14.

So found out Captain Ian Wilkinson after his employer fired him for making a low pass at Paine Field out in Washington.

Check out the video of the event that triggered the controversy. Not very flashy by airshow standards, but from a “COMMERCIAL PASSENGER SAFETY” standpoint I can see the concern.

Thanks to our friends at Gizmodo and Metlife for the info.

Scan-It: Airport security toy for kids

by Anna Brones on

I get frustrated about airport security, lots of people do — what’s new? But maybe that’s just because some of us grew up in a different era without today’s strict regulations; I remember a time when family members followed you to the gate to wave goodbye, you left your shoes on and bottles of water from home were not thrown into the trash. But today things have changed, and traveling children are exposed to post-9/11 security measures at a young age. To help them better understand the complexities of airport security, what better way than an educational game?

Scan-It, made by Operation Checkpoint, is a toy airport metal detector, meant to get kids used to the idea of security in airports and other public spaces. The toy is intended to provide “healthy fun with education and awareness,” which includes wooshing items through security to find hidden metal. Nothing like a toy to make you feel like a TSA agent. If only I had a Scan-It when I was little…

Via Boing Boing

Homeless UK man is a real-life Viktor Navorski

by Aaron Hotfelder on

C’mon, you remember Viktor Navorski. He was Tom Hanks’ character in the 2004 dramedy The Terminal, who lived in JFK Airport because he couldn’t return to his war-torn Eastern European home of “Krakozhia.” Apparently, a homeless man in the UK has been unwittingly re-enacting the bulk of that movie in London’s Gatwick Airport.

In 2004, Anthony Delaney, a former chef, began to live in Gatwick Airport, where he ate, showered, and slept, before being banned from the airport by authorities in 2005. He continued to stay there despite being banned two more times, and now a judge has had it, ordering authorities to take the man into custody.

Said the judge: “It is a bit cheeky to go straight back to Gatwick. There are other places you can have a shower. This is just going on and on. It is all very strange.”

Not really. I think if I were homeless I’d probably spend the majority of my time in an airport too. As the homeless man pointed out, they’re “clean, dry, and warm.” And with duty-free shopping to boot!

How much baby food is too much to carry on?

by Iva Skoch on

I really, honestly, do not envy people flying with children. As if their children’s mid-air temper tantrums are not exhausting enough, getting through security–taking off your infants’ shoes while simultaneously removing your laptop and chasing your toddler who rushed through the metal detector with his teletubby in hand–is probably enough to make you want to stay home at all costs.

Now, I hear that parents are also being harassed about the amount of baby food they bring on board. The TSA rule says you may carry on baby food and liquids in “reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary.” The definition of reasonable quantities, of course, varies.

This NY Times article talks about parents who carry on more baby food than necessary in the winter time because flights get delayed, and they don’t want to be stuck with a hungry baby and no food. For example, for a two and a half hour flight, a couple wanted to carry on five or six 2-ounce jars of Gerber’s baby food and 20 ounces of Similac baby formula in two sealed 8-ounce and two sealed 2-ounce plastic bottles just “to be safe.”

TSA said that for that much baby food, they would need to bring a doctor’s note. Um, what exactly should the note say? “This is one hungry baby! TSA, have mercy?”

Smuggle poppy seeds, face jail

by Iva Skoch on

I am sure that life has been better for the unfortunate Swiss person, arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the airport security people found “three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow airport,” as reported in The Times.

The charity Fair Trials International, which assists people facing trials abroad, issued a warning following a spate of arrests of visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi stating that carrying some foodstuffs and common over-the-counter medications could warrant a four-year prison sentence in UAE.

Among the banned substances are foods containing poppy seeds; melatonin, which is taken to ease the effects of jetlag; codeine, a common ingredient in pain relief medication, and any trace of drugs such as cannabis, however small. For a full list of substances banned in the UAE, click here.

Remember, no poppy seed bagels before flying to Dubai. It’s not a Jewish thing. It’s a poppy seed thing.

What strange things have been found on planes?


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