It may appear that we tend to pick on the TSA a lot here on Gadling, but the agency is just a never ending source of stuff for us to write about. The latest incident involving the people that run airport security comes from Northwest Florida Regional Airport.
Several minutes after a Delta Airlines jet departed from the airport, TSA officials made a call to have the plane turn around and head back.
Unfortunately, they failed to notify the local Air Force base. When the base noticed the plane taking a different course than they had filed, a call went out to local law enforcement. The call history showed that the security staff at Eglin Air Force Base advised of a possible hijack attempt. The request asked for “anyone available, including a SWAT team”.
It took 20 minutes for dispatchers to confirm that there was no hijack attempt, and that the plane had been asked to return so they could screen a TSA staff member. According to TSA officials, there had been “some discrepancies” in the way they screened their own employee.
As is often the case, the TSA is “reviewing the incident” and will take “appropriate action if necessary”. I’m sure that makes us all feel much safer.
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I agree with Mike Barish’s recent post. Road trips do rock. I love grabbing some friends, jumping in the car, and blasting great music as we cruise down the highway or along back roads. If you love a good road trip…..and you happen to live in Texas or on the east coast……and you want to drive one-way to Florida…..and you just happen to plan on going before November 15, well then Thrifty Car Rental has a deal for you.
The car rental company is offering the rock-bottom-rate of $1 per day for renters willing to pick up the car at Houston Hobby, Houston International, Corpus Christi, Boston, Burlington, or Providence airports and drive it to one of nine airports in Florida before November 15.
Odds are that not many people will be able to take advantage of this offer, except perhaps some of the snowbirds, like my grandmother, who head south every winter. But if the circumstances are right for you, it is an awesome deal.
There are some additional restrictions though (yes even more than those above!). Availability is limited and you must make the transfer within seven days. Drive fast, grandma!
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To win, a kid age 13 – 18 needs to answer a simple question: Why does Orlando make you smile? The answers, which must be by video, can either be animated or in live action and can’t exceed three minutes. The winners will be announced in late February, and their films will be premiered at the film festival.
Two American girls from Florida are about to find themselves pretty far from home. Dara Simkin and Catherine Fleming won the Tasmania leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic Adventure. This is the first time an American team has won the Australia contest. On December 19, 2009, they’ll fire up the engine and start to drive through Tasmania for six weeks. On January 30, 2010, they’ll arrive in Melbourne, having completed the fourth of seven legs. The seven-part journey begins in Queensland and consists of 10,000 miles of driving in a van named Geoff.
During their journey, Dara and Catherine will report on their experiences kayaking on the Freycinet Peninsula, mountain biking Mt. Wellington and walking through Cradle Moutain. You can keep track of their progress on YouTube or on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.
But, watching might not be enough for some people … there are still three legs open, so you may want to put your application video together.
Halloween is the one day a year we seek fear rather than try to avoid it. We invite the prospect of ghosts, witches and vampires, and even if we concede that they aren’t real, it’s fine to suspend disbelief for a day. To heighten the sensation, consider wrapping your next trip in the Halloween spirit. There are plenty of destinations around the world that will help the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end.
1. Melbourne’s Haunted Bookshop Ghost-hunter and historian Drew Sinton is waiting for you at The Haunted Bookshop in Melbourne, Australia. If you’re not afraid of the written word, this starting point won’t scare you, but along the way, you’ll hit a number of spots where ghosts have been sighted. Old Melbourne Goal (jail, that is) was home to 135 hangings. One of them, Ned Kelly, is said to have resulted in a ghost that won’t leave the site of his demise. While you’re there, walk the road to the gallows. If this isn’t enough for you, look for nutty ghosts on the Beechworth Ghost Tour at what was once the Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum.
2. Under the Royal Mile Beneath Edinburgh‘s Royal Mile, you’ll find a warren of hidden “closes” where people once lived, worked … and perished. Mary King’s Close, once abandoned and forgotten, is now open via the Supernatural History Tour. Explore one of Scotland’s most haunted locations, get the scoop on urban myths and hear about sightings that occurred as recently as 2003. A few claim to have felt ghosts brush past on this tour. Will you be one of them?
3. Follow New France’s Great Master Old Montreal‘s cobblestone streets set the scene for any supernatural encounter. The sun goes down; the wind blows off the river. You don’t know what’s gust and what’s ghost! History is the breeding ground of the other-worldly, and the Great Master will take you through the century’s that have contributed to what is now the “New France Ghost Hunt.”
4. The Darker Side of Luxury No, you won’t have to worry about peasant uprisings, but if you’re looking for paranormal trouble, you can find it at a handful of Fairmont hotels. At the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (where I suffered through a business trip from hell a decade ago), keep an eye open for Victoria, a now deceased member of one of the founding families of the Sonoma Valley. A former steward, now dead, of course, hangs out in the silver room at the Fairmont Royal York, and a hotel maid who fell to her death in 1908 has yet to leave the Fairmont Empress.
5. The Ghastly Side of Downtown Orlando I’m sure there’s something going on at Disneyworld, but skip it in favor of downtown Orlando (my favorite part of Florida). On the Orlando Ghost Tours, you’ll get two hours to pick up the basics of parapsychology and poke around in locations confirmed to be haunted. You’ll even get to use specialized equipment to conduct your own paranormal investigation. Who you gonna call? After this, probably yourself.