Galley Gossip: Four year-old kid discusses airport security & TSA pat downs

by Heather Poole on


The following video was created for parents traveling with small kids who might be a little nervous about subjecting their children to the new TSA procedures. Regardless of how you may feel about the new enhanced security measures, there’s no need for children to be scared. My son will explain to them what a pat down is and even share a few tips. But first a few things the TSA would like you to know about going through airport security with children…

  • TSA will screen everyone, regardless of age, including babies.
  • NEVER leave babies in an infant carrier while it goes through the X-ray.
  • All children must be removed from strollers and slings when passing through the machine.
  • All children’s items must go through the X-ray; diaper bags, toys, strollers, slings, etc.
  • If any of your items do not fit through the X-ray, a TSA officer will physically and visually inspect it.
  • If your child can walk through the metal detector unassisted, TSA recommends you and your child walk through separately.
  • Do not pass your baby to a TSA officer to hold as you walk through the X-ray machine.
  • If you choose to carry a child through and the alarm sounds, TSA will check both of you.
  • Medication, baby formula, food and breast milk, and juice are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding 3.4 ounces, and are not required to be in a zip-top bag. Declare these items for inspection at the checkpoint.
  • Children under 12 who require extra screening will be subjected to a “modified” pat down. It’s less intrusive than what an adult might receive.
  • Click the link for information regarding children travelers with special needs or medical conditions.




Photo courtesy of Tatiana Mik

Christmas in Afghanistan: Safer than New York City?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nothing beats Manhattan for the holidays. I’m already seeing signs of Christmas appear all over the city. Lights are already wrapped around trees on W. 58th Street, and gigantic fir candy cane sculptures are beginning to adorn the city’s skyscrapers. There’s no doubt that the holiday season is nothing short of magical in New York City, and if you’re looking to experience Christmas away from home, this is the place to do it … unless you’re listening to the NATO.

Mark Sedwill, NATO’s senior civilian representative, has called Kabul, Afghanistan a safe place for kids, saying they “are probably safer here than they would be in London, New York or Glasgow or many other cities,” according to The Independent.

Of course, Sedwill is already backing away from his original comment, saying, “I was trying to explain to an audience of British children how uneven violence is across Afghanistan.”

%Gallery-106020%The Independent continues:

“But, in cities like Kabul where security has improved, the total levels of violence, including criminal violence, are comparable to those which many western children would experience.

“For most Afghans, the biggest challenges are from poverty – the absence of clean water, open sewers, malnutrition, disease – and many more children are at risk from those problems than from the insurgency.”

So, is that where you’re going to go to watch the tree-lighting?

%Poll-56052%

[Via Gawker, photo by zedwards via Flickr]

TSA pees on Tom Sawyer

by Andrew Evans on

Start with three key ingredients: Detroit, a bag of urine, and the TSA.

Add an agressive pat-down at security and what do you get? A disgruntled man on a plane, soaked in his own warm pee and a national news headline!

On Nov. 7th, a male passenger flying from DTW to Orlando, Florida was selected for additional security screening. A bladder cancer survivor, the passenger carried an urostomy bag under his clothes–a plastic bag attached to his abdomen for collecting urine. Despite repeated requests to exercise caution in their search, the agents broke the seal on the bag, spilling the passenger’s urine all over him.

Adding insult to injury of the American psyche, the poor guy’s name was Tom Sawyer (not making this up), a Michigan special education teacher who is currently learning the true power of the internet. Obviously, this guy is pissed–he’s already taken the issue to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.

An official response is still unknown, but the current threat advisory level is yellow.

Suspected bomb on airplane was a “dummy”

by Sean McLachlan on

Yesterday’s potential bomb on an Air Berlin flight from Namibia to Germany turns out to have been an American-made “dummy” used by security officials for training, BBC reports.

The “bomb” consists of a detonator, wires, and a ticking clock and is put in a suitcase and through the system to measure the efficiency of an airport’s security. The device did not contain explosives and was detected before being put on the plane, so score one for Namibian airport security. But here’s the catch–there was no security test going on. So either it was put on by accident (unlikely) or someone decided to create a scare. Local police are investigating and with tourism being such a big money maker in Namibia, whoever was responsible faces some serious consequences. I wonder what the inside of a Namibian jail looks like?

The first wind we had of this new development came from Gadling reader Sabrina, who read about it on German news. Vielen Dank, Sabrina!

Why you shouldn’t be concerned about airport x-rays and patdowns

by Grant Martin on

There’s a serious backlash to the TSA’s recent airport security policies raging through the media this month, as more and more of the flying public learn what the real meaning of “until resistance is felt” is when security officers are feeling up unsuspecting passengers’ legs.

The new policies, covered extensively here at Gadling and at every other travel and news outlet across the web are the latest version of the Department of Homeland Security’s measures to prevent unwanted people and goods from entering the world’s airspace. One of the technologies has to do with new imaging methods that can see through your clothing, potentially to embarrassing detail. The other has to do with pat-down procedures in case you’re selected for advanced screening.

In both cases, privacy is the main issue. Concerned passengers don’t want to be subject to some random security officer getting an all-too-close look or feel at their private places, and the new polices now in force make that privacy seem thinner than ever.

As word of the new initiatives and potential implications grows, so has the online calamity. A group of activists recently stripped down and protested the changes at a German airport. Over the weekend, a Californian would-be-passenger flipped out and made national news while he recorded his angry conversation with the TSA. Reddit and a number of social medias have also jumped on the bandwagon by either virally or intentionally curating a river of stories, anger and discussion about just what’s going wrong.

The fact of the matter is, however, that these security measures are not as egregious as it seems. From deep within the trenches of everyday travel, I as the Editor of Gadling can tell you first hand: it’s just not that bad.In the past month I’ve been through dozens of airports from Mumbai to Bogota to Miami to Delhi. Of the hundred times that I’ve been through airport security, I’ve been scanned with the magnetic wand a dozen times, through the backscatter detector twice and patted down a handful of times.

Each time, I did my duty: spread my legs, raised my arms, pulled out my keys or turned in circles. And each time, the security officer did his: checked my pockets, felt my thighs and patted my back. After that? I went on my way and the officer moved onto the next person. No laughs, no discussion, no disrespect or question.

It’s true. The new security initiatives do give unscrupulous individuals the ability to abuse their power and see something that would make you feel uncomfortable. But these are the bad apples in a very very large bushel, and most are just doing their jobs and want you to be on your way. Just like someone can peek into your living room window in the middle of the night or a corporation can rifle through your Facebook account, invasions of privacy can and will happen — it’s a fact of life in today’s high frequency world.

So here’s some food for thought next time you’re passing through airport security. Most of you won’t encounter a backscatter or millimeter wave scanner at the checkpoint. They’ve only been installed at select, high-traffic airports around the country. Chances are, you’ll go through the normal magnetometer and carry on with your normal flight.

If you are subjected to advanced screening, there is no promise that you won’t absorb a few roentgens of radiation or that your personal privacy won’t be encroached upon. But those risks are minimal, infrequent, and should not sway the seasoned traveler. For now, your privacy concerns should lie beyond this pop-science scare — and if, in the slight probability that something isn’t ideal for the general public’s health, you can trust Reddit users and Congressional watchdogs to raise the real red flag. Until then, keep flying.