Air Travel with tanks post TSA

[eandiver]

I'm a veteran (USMC) and I got the job along with 8 or so ex-employees of Globe who were the pre TSA security people. 75 % of the people I work with have prior military experence so that sort of wipes out the "jobs taken away from the veterans" end.

Lots of things are considered dangerous. More than 20 oz of flammable personels, hair spray, after shave containing alcohol for example.

No we don't get to "split up the loot" at the end of the day, nice dig though .................I'm at the bottom of the TSA food chain, a security screener but so far I have gone through 2 weeks of assesment tests just to be considered for the job and have had an on going back ground check since July 2002.
The penalty for stealing from bags or confiscated items is immediate dismissal and prosecution. We are federal employees and subject to their laws.

You don't give up your constitutional rights when flying.........security is more stringent since Sept 11 so I would rather have you mad at me because something prohibited was removed from your bag for the safety of the flight than to see another aircraft nose dive into a swamp (Value jet) or be flown into a building.

You can find out who searched your bag, all searches are recorded by flight, time , screener and item removed. Go to the airport ask for a manager and explain what happened.

 

[MikeFerrara]

eandiver,
I am not mad at you. I am put off by the lack of privacy though. Too me, and maybe it's some kind of phobea, having someone go through my stuff without my knowlege or presence is a violation like someone going through my home would be. I have always been unhappy about the way the airlines has treated me and my belongings and their near refusal to accept any reponsibility for it. This is just one more reason not to fly unless their is no alternative.

 

[RICHinNC]

well i think the 8 vets that lost their job in fayetteville nc airport would disagree....it put an end to their job

 

[chris_b]

eandiver once bubbled...
No we don't get to "split up the loot" at the end of the day...

So where does the "loot" go? If something is "confiscated" what happens to it? Is there some way for the owner in the original post to get his spare-air back?

What procedures are in place if someone gets a bag back that is missing items of, say, clothing?

 

[shellbird]

For a small fee, the airport in Hartford will mail your item back to you (that is if it is confiscated from your carry on when you are present). Not sure about otherwise.

 

[DivePartner1]

Frankly, I think TSA has improved security and the flying experience significantly. There approach is professional and more even handed by the bizarre pre-TSA lot. I'd rather have qualified staff in a safety post any day.

I don't think we have a right as divers to insist on that TSA exempt something as difficult to inspect as tanks from the safety rules. Let's image this is not our tank, and that some tank may show up on every third flight. Are we confident that it was always be thoroughly vetted?

We can still ship tanks by other means. We just have to plan a bit.

 

[JamieZ]

I have to agree with Mike. I dont like the idea of some one rummaging through my stuff when I'm not present. This is an invasion of privacy. You can search my bags all you want when I'm there. 4 months after 911 I flew to Ft. Laurderdale from Rochester, NY and was searched, carry ons and check ins. The lady who searched them pulled out my dive computer droped it on the floor and then stepped on it by accident and thought nothing of it. If I wasnt there I couldnt even imagine how disrespectful they would be with my stuff. This is total BS that they can do this. You want search my bags search them in front of me before their checked in.

 

[eandiver]

chris_b: we have a bin marked HazMat, this is the hair spray batteries, lighter fluid, CO2 ctgs, simple stuff. Were that goes I really don't know but by tomorrow evening I will find out.
The serious stuff goes to a type of lost and found area. Each airport is different. The really serious stuff get the passenger back from the plane to the screening area for an explanation.
We have no interest in any type of clothing unless it is packed with explosive.If clothes are missing talk directly to the airline.

MikeFerrara: I don't blame you at all for feeling that way. I don't like it any more than you but if it helps keep the majority of people safe then I can put up with it. I go through so many bags and see so much stuff that I don't even notice the item(s) but just if there is a threat or potential threat. The airlines do their thing, we do ours and in the end ours is the last word.

scubanarc: I'll try not to be to offensive but here it goes.....I don't rummage through your stuff, I only go through your stuff if my EDS or ETD tells me there is a potential threat. The EDS pinpoints an object while the ETD looks for explosive traces. After that it's up to me.
There is no excuse for any screener to do what you said was done to your dive computer period. We all try to be professional but tell me an occupation that is 100% all the time.
At Tampa when I started the machines were in front of the ticket counters open to the public, now we have partitions around them but they are still in the same place and in several months they will be in the basement out of view of all travelers. What this means is by July all checked bags will be screened out of public view with no chance to unlock, lock or go into lengthy discussions why they do it differently at XYZ airport. In short I don't care about your clothes, personal items, what ever they may be, or your like or dislike of the TSA or the US government in general and I will search you bags when I deem it necessary. My job is to make sure you and every other traveler gets to their destination with out any incident I can prevent. If that is not satifactory then take Greyhound.

I'm new to this board and am here to try and learn some more about SCUBA diving and thought I would try in return to help anyone who has questions about the transportation of diving gear and it's interaction with the Transportation Security Administration.
I'm not here to debate policy but to try and provide the answers to moving items from one point to another as effortlessly as possible.

Thanks
Mark

 

[Genesis]

There are some basic issues here.

I've had property stolen from a checked bag before, with locks broken (VERY broken) to get in to them. I've also had bags damaged by airlines, and have NEVER been offered even an apology, say much less compensation.

In each and every case such has happened I have run into a 100% brick wall when reporting said loss or damage.

I spent close to a decade in the air at least 2-3 times a week. This was long prior to 9/11; I lived a part of my life on the road doing consulting work and was back and forth from here and there on a nearly continuous basis. There were months where I was lucky if I slept in my own bed more than three or four nights.

My policy for YEARS was to check ONLY clothing that I could afford to lose, and that any personal effects that were worth anything at all to a potential thief (including airline employees and bag handlers) went on the plane with me. For most business trips I would fly COMPLETELY carry-on - no checked bags AT ALL. This was the only successful means of keeping the goons out of my stuff - either to steal or damage it.

Since the airlines have gone to their "one carry on" rule, and significantly tightened up size and weight restrictions on that carry-on, that option is now foreclosed for the most part.

This TSA nonsense just makes it worse.

IMHO, if a government employee wants to open your bag you should have a right to be present at the time. This is a basic 4th Amendment issue. They want to search, you must consent. Blanket consent when entering an airport doesn't fly with this Constitutional Absolutist.

Further, the TSA should be responsible - legally and financially - for FULL REPLACEMENT COST plus ALL associated damages (e.g. the cost of your trip) if a critical item is "removed" from your baggage - like your regulator or dive computer!

I am all for safety but not at the cost of my property rights, and not at the cost of being told 'oh we'd never do that'.

Look, the fact is that people do indeed do that. Then you add to that the fact that now we have yet another place to point fingers, and that carriers and the staff at airports have NEVER taken responsibility for these actions in the past.

I have watched plane's cargo holds being loaded out the window of the terminal, with big technical gear cases with "FRAGILE!" stickers all over it being literally tossed off baggage carts and onto the tarmack - a good 3-4 foot vertical toss - without so much as a second thought. As I noted I have had my bags riffled through and items removed, although none of them were "interesting" in tems of being on some banned list (why would someone want my norelco razor, for instance; that's hardly a "dangerous" item, yet I have had one stolen.) Associates of mine have had hardcases broken into and technical gear damaged or stolen outright.

My answer is, simply "don't fly and tell 'em why."

Yeah, that precludes me from going some places I might want to go. But it denies the airlines a reward for behavior I find disgusting, and it further denies the desintations a reward as well. Perhaps when both of them bring to bear some policy demands to protect their customer's property - and rights - I will reconsider.

 

[metridium]

Genesis wrote...
Since the airlines have gone to their "one carry on" rule, and significantly tightened up size and weight restrictions on that carry-on, that option is now foreclosed for the most part.

Uh, who's checking carry-on weight domestically these days?

BTW, it's one carry-on and a personal item, which can be the size of a school backpack...big enough for my drysuit and some miscellaneous articles.