TSA to swab passengers’ hands at airport

by Grant Martin on

Wash your hands before you went to the airport? You may want to. This week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is beginning new, extra security measures at our nation’s airports: hand swabs.

Have you ever had a bag “randomly” selected for supplemental screening after pushing it through the X-ray? In addition to the manual search, agents often swipe your bag with a clean cloth and put the material into a shoebox-sized detector. They’re checking for the residue of bomb-making material — potentially undetectable by eye but sniffable by the robot.

That same residue will stick to your hands if you’re not careful, which is what the TSA is hoping to identify in their random hand swabs. It’s just speculation, but our guess is that the underwear bomber had traces of PETN on his hands, so the TSA now thinks that they can foil plots better by checking those members.

Provided, that is, that they swab the right person’s hands. As with many of the TSA’s initiatives, this new hand-swabbing effort is a random operation, so if the perpetrator gets lucky and doesn’t get swabbed — well, then the problem moves onward.

Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!

Newark wine bottle fiasco causes President’s Day shutdown

by Annie Scott on

Ah, Newark. The same airport that brought us a multi-hour shutdown due to a couple in love has once again allowed a civilian to walk right past TSA.

This past President’s Day, a passenger had his bag scanned and the agent reportedly saw some bottles of wine and referred him to secondary screening. However, rather than getting screened, the passenger walked off. The airport was then shut down for an hour as TSA searched for this walker-awayer. They never found him, he never came forward and he presumably boarded his plane and — shocker — he did not use to wine bottles to harm anyone.

Three things:

First of all, I wonder what kind of person the perpetrator was — perhaps he didn’t speak English very well. I do speak English, regularly, and almost every time I’ve been asked to have my bag secondarily screened, I’ve been confused. “Me?” TSA is generally a messy kerfuffle, and I’ve nearly walked off myself. If the person didn’t speak English very well and wasn’t accustomed to airport procedure (which he probably wasn’t, considering he had wine bottles in his carry-on), I have no trouble believing that this was an honest mistake.

Secondly, I feel really let down by the TSA. How many times have we all reached our destinations and realized we had pocket knives, wine keys with knives, bottles of lotion and what-have-you with us in our carry-ons? We tend to feel a sort of thrill as we realize that we totally pulled a fast one on TSA, but really, we should be angry. Their need to inspect us for every little thing has become an epic, world-wide pain in the hindquarters … how dare they do it so poorly? Is there no one keeping score? If you think about the odds, it’s virtually impossible that a passenger walking away hasn’t happened before — but the agents probably shrugged and let him or her go. Why shut the part of the airport down this time?

Thirdly, hey Newark: invest in some more of this. It might save you some time. Thanks. Look, I even found you a discount code. You’re welcome.

[via nj.com]

Decoding TSA security bins

by Amy Chen on

Bin advertising at TSA security checkpoints has been around for a couple years. What’s new is that more airports are rolling out bins that are now labeled with letters and numbers.

I first noticed the stickers in early January when flying from JFK to Seattle. I hadn’t seen the labels when traveling over the holidays, so I wondered: were the stickers added after the Christmas Day underwear bomber made it through the checkpoints?

I contacted the TSA and was told that the stickers, which don’t appear on the X-rays, are placed on the bins by the same companies that manage the ads–not TSA.

Some background: the TSA doesn’t get involved with the advertisers and doesn’t collect any money from the ads. Rather, the program is a direct relationship between the advertisers (Zappos.com, Charles Schwab, Hanes, Amtrak, to name a few) and the respective airport authority. In return for allowing the ads, the TSA gets the use of the bins, stainless-steel tables, and carts.

After contacting the TSA, I was directed to SecurityPoint Media, a subcontractor for the bin-advertising program at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Joe Ambrefe, the president and CEO of SecurityPoint Media, responded to my questions via e-mail and shared the following info:

1. The labels, known as “tether ID” numbers, were developed in 2001 and first used at a U.S. airport in a 2005 pilot program.

2. The bin stickers were created to improve communication at the checkpoint. In the event you’re pulled aside for secondary screening, the tether IDs are meant to help you identify your belongings. (I imagine saying “D11” is more precise than pointing and saying “That one over there.”) It’s also a way for TSA agents to positively identify bins that require a more thorough search.

3. The numbers, which are captured by overhead security cameras, are unique to each airport and do not repeat. (Let’s assume the security cameras are turned on and recording like they’re supposed to.)

So it seems that while the would-be underwear bomber has made these tether IDs more relevant than ever, this program was already well in the works.

My contact at the TSA tells me that the bin-advertising program recently expanded to New York (JFK, LGA, EWR) and Chicago, with possibly more airports on the way. Participating airports already include Denver, Seattle, L.A., and San Francisco. Apparently airport authorities are fans of the advertising program because the bins are replaced with new ads every 90 days, which means clean, new containers for everyone.

Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!

Paranoid TSA checkpoint agents arrest man over harmless Arabic flashcards

by Scott Carmichael on

Anyone trying to learn a new language while heading through the airport beware – the TSA is apparently paying special attention to people with flashcards.

When airline passenger Nick George tried to pass through the checkpoint at Phillidephia airport, the TSA found the harmless flashcards in his bag, handcuffed him and detained him for five hours.

Given the reaction from the TSA, you’d expect that the flashcards were teaching him words like “hijack” or “bomb”, but they were all completely harmless words like “graduate” or “funny”.

The TSA obviously now assumes that anything in Arabic is a matter of national security, because during their interrogation of Mr. George, they demanded answers to stupid questions like “who was behind 9/11” and “what language does Osama Bin Laden speak”. Worst of all, Mr. George doesn’t even look like your everyday terrorist – he’s just a young American guy from California. So, thanks to their utter stupidity, the TSA is now on the receiving end of a lawsuit by the ACLU.

UPDATE: According to a different report, some of the flash cards did indeed contain words like “bomb” and “terrorist”, but Mr. George made it clear that he was learning those words so he could understand news stories from the Middle East.

Travel-sized everything: 3floz.com

by Annie Scott on

3floz.com is a new website featuring the best of what comes in a TSA-approved size.

The site is a collaboration between two travelers with 11 years of experience in the beauty industry, Kate Duff and Alexi Mintz. They used to travel together, and Kate would check a bag with all her beauty products, whereas Alexi would carry her bags on — and then have to borrow Kate’s stuff. This wasn’t an ideal situation, and the two spent hours scouring beauty websites looking for 3oz versions of their favorite products. They didn’t exist.

And so, 3floz.com was born, with a brand list including Air Repair, Anthony for Men, The Art of Shaving, Avalon Organics, Go Smile, and Yes to Carrots. The products range from shampoos and moisturizers to teeth whiteners and facial serums for men and women.

As a frequent traveler myself, I’m delighted to see all this great stuff in one place — I frequently find myself relying on the hotel shampoo and conditioner, even their lotion. Some hotels in Europe don’t even offer conditioner. What is up with that?

The 3floz ladies add that these products can also go in your purse, your locker at the gym or school, your work bag and your car (I would add to that your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s house). Tiny bottles of your favorite beauty and grooming necessities are helpful. Good thinking, Kate and Alexi.

If you shop at 3floz today or tomorrow (February 9 & 10) and use the code STYLEHOUSE, you’ll get 10 percent off your first purchase. Go there.

With a little luck, 3floz.com may help you avoid the following horror stories from the airport checkpoint…