TSA Stupidity

[wedivebc]

A diver who was suppose to join our group in Nanaimo was refused boarding on his flight from Maryland because he was carrying dive gear (rebreather), the reason, because its 9/11. They apparently confiscated his rig.
Has anyone else heard of such stupidity?

 

[Doc]

A hallmark of a rebreather that it has self contained cylinders.

Any cylinder not completely open is subject to destruction. This rule is subject to some latitude, but in fact they would be within guidelines adopted by the FAA and the airline to object even if a cylinder had a piece of tape or kleenex wadded into the neck.

Open, alas, means open.

Stupid TSA? Well, stupid inflexible rules maybe~ but they're just running with the book they have.

Sealed, airtight containers is also why they get all cross-eyed over Pelican boxes. Harder for the chemical sniffers to work. A pressure cylinder, would additionally, make for an excellent explosive reaction pressure chamber- that is how firecrackers work, after all.

Those are the rules, and those are the reasons why.

I'm still pissed about having to take off my shoes and walk around in a grimy airport.

 

[Cudabait]

What is the other side of the story?

 

[protohuman]

Closed cylinders have been prohibited on commercial aircraft since long before 9/11. TSA was doing their very difficult job. It makes no sense to expect to take a closed cylinder on an aircraft.

 

[Nemrod]

A diver who was suppose to join our group in Nanaimo was refused boarding on his flight from Maryland because he was carrying dive gear (rebreather), the reason, because its 9/11. They apparently confiscated his rig.
Has anyone else heard of such stupidity?

It has gotten to the point we cannot go anywhere or do anything anymore because we refuse to deal with the actual threat and instead frisk grandma and confiscate scuba equipment. And you want government run health care too. N

 

[Jim Lapenta]

TSA is made up of those people who got rejected by Mickey D's. Bunch of friggin morons who are afraid to do their jobs and profile those who should be looked at. Instead they pick on honest citizens under the guise of doing something useful.

 

[scubaren]

On a recent trip to Florida I was pulled aside three separate times for 1 flight and had my carry on checked because I was carrying my reg. The last time I was actually walking in the ramp between the gate and the plane. Two agents pulled me aside and went through my stuff. I couldn't believe it was happening to me. When I got home and did some further research I found information that basically stated that when you are in an airport in the US it is now like stepping on to foreign soil. You may be pulled aside and whisked away with no rights to object. This is very scary!

 

[joolz]

It does seem a bit naive to expect to take a rebreather on a plane, so I wouldn't hold TSA completely responsible if someone doesn't bother to confirm the carry-on rules beforehand. Continental even has explicit rules regarding what gear can go in checked luggage:

Note: for Rebreather Equipment: Soda lime that is 4% Sodium Hydroxide or less will be accepted in checked baggage. Soda lime that is 4.1% Sodium Hydroxide will not be accepted in checked baggage.

I guess this brings up a related question: just how do people normally travel with rebreathers?

 

[scubaren]

I was also extremely disturbed that an elderly man was lifted out of his wheelchair and had to struggle through the damn metal detector (I was watching people being screened as they dug through my stuff). There was also a small child in front of me about 3 - 4 years old that kept setting off the detector. The TSA people kept taking him and shoving him through again and again, the poor kid was in tears! This is just really absurd.

 

[ItsBruce]

All very interesting. But ...

My carry-on usually contains enough stuff to start a small electronics store: Cell phone, GPS, camera, iPod, flashlight, and sometimes a regulator and sometimes a VHF radio. The only time anyone ever wanted to look at it was a TSA agent who was a diver and wanted to compare gear and talk scuba. I regularly complain that if I saw on the scanner the profile of the stuff I carried, I'd want to look at it by hand. They tell me they can identify it as being legitimate. Go figure.

In about October, 2002, my wife traveled from Missouri to California aboard a commercial jet and needed to transport a .45 pistol. She called the airline in advance to check on the protocol. They told her it needed to have a trigger lock and be in a carrying case and to just let them know at check-in. She complied and told them at check in. They examined the trigger lock, put a big sticker saying "firearm" on the case and then asked if she wanted to ship it through or carry it onboard. When she said it was valuable (military academy class pistol), they suggested carrying it and walked her past security with it. No Big Deal. Go figure.