Air Travel with tanks post TSA

[Ontario Diver]

I'm just curious...........after all the posts who has actually had a real honest to god problem/incident while going thru airport security?

I'm not talking about the feeling you get after visiting your proctologist for a check up but an actual problem.

I have done a lot of travel throught Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, North and Central America.

If you think the TSA rules are tough and stomp on your rights,

don't fly El Al out of Zurick or Tel Aviv. There the security screeners are armed and backed up by gentlemen with sub machine guns.

 

[fdog]

YOU CAN NOW TAKE YOUR EMPTY SCUBA TANK (nothing more than a round hunk of steal) ON THE AIRPLANE LEGALY!!!!!!!! HERE IS THE LINK TO THE PAGE

http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1190.xml

As discussed elsewhere it appears tanks are only allowed as carry-on. Sheesh.

Unless somebody else knows otherwise (which would be way cool).

All thebest, James

 

[Wildcard]

TSA the smartest bunch of people I know. Now how could anyone come up with a way to use a large metal object as a wepon, say to smash through the re enforced cockpit doors?

 

[crpntr133]

I doubt that a dive tank is going to brake down the cock pit door on a plane anymore. Though you could use it as a weapon, if big enough, against another human in the cabin.

One of the dive rags published last month that tanks are now being accept but I don't recall if it was carry on or not. It seem that it is still a crap shoot either way.

This really may sound stupid but has anybody thought about sending a tank via parcel (UPS, FedEx..etc.)? I do realize that it is going to cost but it beats the hell out of having a tank taken from your checked luggage to be never seen again and not compensated for it. Other than for a rebreather, pony, spare air; why would you take a tank with you on vacation?

 

[BigJetDriver]

(1) No, they aren't all that great, but you can't bash a cockpit door open with a cylinder.

(2) Putting a cylinder in your checked baggage is acceptable in most cases, if it is readily accessible and inspectable. A plastic shipping plug that can be removed with the fingers allows the inspectors to see the interior, and can be easily replaced.

(3) I shipped a pair of my 7 liter cylinders for my Expedition Inspiration to Grand Cayman very recently for Inner Space week. Despite my sworn document that they were for personal use and would be removed at the end of the week, the Cayman Islands Customs Agency wanted to charge exhorbitant duty.

P.S.---The cylinders in my checked baggage arrived with no problems.

Cheers!

 

[Wildcard]

This isn't dated but it was posted today.
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1190.xml

 

[BigJetDriver]

This isn't dated but it was posted today.
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1190.xml

This procedural directive has been around for a while now. It actually appeared several months ago.

Read my post above. Look at my avatar. Guess what I do for a living?

With the security and Customs folks NOTHING works 100 per cent all of the time. My post above is very recent experience however.

 

[Xanthro]

Unfortunately, all compressed air cylinders technically cannot have a valve attached, and be carried on the plane.

You think this is hard on scuba, its worse on paintball, since in many cases the valves cannot be removed.

I’ve found that often the can be checked or carried on if empty and a note, in checked bags, explaining how to determine they are empty

You do have to worry about the item being confiscated, and while much smaller, paintball cylinders can be very expensive.

My problem with this security is it is not real. No benefit, other than accidental discharge, is to be had.

In many cases, security is WORSE after 9/11.

The best security measure is one they do not use anymore, which were the questions did you pack your own bags? Did your bags ever leave your sight?

While people made fun of the questions, often saying what terrorist would answer truthfully, the questions themselves do not matter. What is important is asking the person ANY questions and checking HOW they answer. The question and answer themselves do not matter as much.

Now security barely talks to you. There is no attempt to ascertain how the person is acting, the most vital part of any security check.

Xanthro

 

[HamsterHuey]

A couple of points I think people miss (and have done so since 9/11)...

How do you tell if a security measure is working? Well, what you're securing against doesn't happen. Can you be 100% sure that it's the security measure, or some other variable? No, you can't.

Locks keep honest people honest. Security checks often do the same. But, if you're a terrorist, and you have the option of going route A, which has 10 checks, and route B, which has two...you'll pick route B.

I travel a lot, and I travel with some CRAZY stuff. Multifuel tanks for camping stoves, a set of Wustoff cooks knives, dive computers (I'll explain why that's crazy). I also get to the airport early, explain to the check-in person what I have in my bag, and request a search if I think there's going to be a problem. Takes a little longer, but not as long as a funeral for 400 people.

The "crazy" dive computer. My wife dives with an Aeris Atmos 2 with a quick-disconnect. The computer weighs about a pound. Has a little LED clock that comes on with a push of a button, right over the SPG, which won't move unless hooked to an air source. All sealed in a watertight, gas-tight rubber case.

Think about that, and think about how much explosives it takes to blow a hole in an airplane hull.

About a pound.

So you have your explosive (which, to the well-seasoned European traveler, would be easy to come by), a detonator (a blasting cap made from gun powder or scraped match heads), and a timer (the computer itself...doesn't even need to be modified). All wrapped up in a casing that a human won't be able to smell through. A dog might be able to.

So, even the "obviously safe" items can be modified. Great...I should be in the FBI's office soon.

Finally...profiling Arabs, because there's no way a 22-year-old white American college student could ever be...well, except John Walker Lindh...but other than that...well, Patty Hearst...but aside from those...nevermind. When you try to defend everywhere, you defend nowhere. And a security check is only effective when it is random, because a 100% check establishes a pattern that one need only study to circumvent. Think about what you pack, notify, and if you're picked for a search (if you don't volunteer first), deal with it.

 

[padiscubapro]

Guidlines updated again..
This time they make more sense.. They allow scuba cylinders in bothe checked or carry on baggage
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1190.xml