TSA Stupidity

[HowardE]

why would you even attempt to bring the whole rebreather on a plane as carry-on? If you know that cylinders are potentially controversial depending on the agent and how they're packed, why not just take them apart and check them (with HowardE's note displayed prominently). Or better yet, ship the cylinders and/or rebreather separately? Yes, it's an additional cost, but so was missing this entire trip.

I just flew 3 days ago. My friend - carried on his whole rebreather. There is nothing on a rebreather that isn't allowed to be carried on - as long as

a) the scrubber is empty
2) the tanks are empty with valves removed. (if you're bringing your own tanks)

For someone like me - who still gets 2 free bags on a couple of airlines. Why pay $50 to ship something, when you can bring it yourself, and have it under your control.

For people who dive a meg. The can, loop, counterlungs, regulators, and head are all you need to bring on a plane. These way less than 30 lbs, and can easily be carried on. You can use any backplate and wing, and there you go.

 

[TMHeimer]

When flying across Canada they made me check my fishing lures. Then when boarding Greyhound (yes, bus TSA) the guy made me check my 2 ropes (I use them to practise the 3 knots of Search & Recovery). So, I guess I could have used the ropes to strangle someone on the plane (as opposed to shoelaces?) and the lures to "hook" someone to death on the bus.

 

[LouieLouie]

When returning from Switzerland after climbing the Matterhorn, the brilliant Swiss TSA made me check my two 200' climbing ropes. Just as I thought they had reached the pinnacle of stupidity, they decided to let my climbing buddy keep his oversized Swiss army knife. I guess they figured he needed some way of defending himself against bad guys with ropes...

 

[Scared Silly]

This thread should probably be in the in Whine-and-Cheese section.

IIRC if TSA if can not verify that an item is NOT a safety hazard YOU have two choices: voluntarily let TSA take the item and proceed into the secure zone or go put the item in checked baggage. I.e. they can not confiscate anything unless it violates the guidelines and you are not there to retrieve it (i.e. checked baggage).

Some of the nicer airports will arrange to mail the item in question back to yourself. Once I walked back out to my car to drop off a knife rather than leaving it with TSA.

Given that there are two sides to every story - I bet the PAX was unable to make the TSA agent comfortable with allowing the rebreather to carried on board. Though I would disagree with the decision given the day of the occurrence I understand.

And unfortunately I bet the PAX was not able to check the bag in time or there was another complication and as such choose not to make the flight.

For quite sometime I fought some of TSA archaic rules (and some airlines). But after chatting with the TSA lead and director at my local airport who gave me personal tours as well as showed me how bags are processed I have come to the conclusion that scuba gear is going to be a big ole red flag. As such, I pack very differently now and fully expect that my bags will be open and inspected whether it is carry on or checked.

Now if I could only get the airlines not to off load my bags in SFO and while I get on the plane to Guam.

 

[Buoyant1]

That's why we drove to Florida the past two years and will do it again this year!

The TSA is full of not properly trained MORONS that are overly drunk with power! I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw any of them!

Sorry...they need to find more qualified people to do this job before we can take it seriously!

 

[Buoyant1]

I just flew 3 days ago. My friend - carried on his whole rebreather. There is nothing on a rebreather that isn't allowed to be carried on - as long as

a) the scrubber is empty
2) the tanks are empty with valves removed. (if you're bringing your own tanks)

For someone like me - who still gets 2 free bags on a couple of airlines. Why pay $50 to ship something, when you can bring it yourself, and have it under your control.

For people who dive a meg. The can, loop, counterlungs, regulators, and head are all you need to bring on a plane. These way less than 30 lbs, and can easily be carried on. You can use any backplate and wing, and there you go.

I like the way you think!

 

[Nemrod]

That's why we drove to Florida the past two years and will do it again this year!

The TSA is full of not properly trained MORONS that are overly drunk with power! I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw any of them!

Sorry...they need to find more qualified people to do this job before we can take it seriously!

If everybody would write their congressman it might helps some. Frankly, I wish we could go back to pre-911. All of this security is a placebo. Nobody will ever hijack an airplane again because if they try it every guy on the airplane is going to open up a can of woop arse on the idiot. There is simply no way to beat technology, if we have to take our shoes off then what happens when some guy tries exploding eye glasses or makes his underwear waste band out of zipcord? What if he they swallow the device. There are chemicals which when swallowed could turn the human body into a fireball, take the pill before flight, have an acid reactive casing which will dissolve releasing the explosive agent into the stomach, kaboom! Some people actually went to college and have degrees in chemistry and physics and certainly can fabricate all manner of dangerous devices from common materials including the body. In a few more years expect genetic modified organisms and low end nuke stuff to become common technology much like flipping a light switch. We would do all of ourselves a favor if instead of making us strip down we would just profile the bad guys. I am sick of that Patriot Act BS also.
N

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

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.

My carry on contains a ton of electronics as well (camera, mp3 player, laptop, external hard drive, Nintendo DS, probably some other stuff I'm forgetting). And other than taking the laptop out before, I've never had any trouble (surprisingly they wanted to take a quick look at a spindle of CDs once).

However, I am 3 for 3 for having my regulator double checked. First time I was traveling out of Toronto and basically squished my BCD (in 2 seperate parts) into a carry on bag and then sprawled 2 regulators and some random accessories on top. It was a good 10 minute manual inspection, multiple swabs, taking basically everything out, annoying (and the guy knew nothing about scuba, although he was nice enough).

Then a couple weeks later I flew from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Seattle, transfer and customs clearing in Minneapolis. This time I was smarter and put my regs in a small reg bag and put this inside my main carry on. At security, I removed the reg bag and put it through separately. It still got manually inspected (this time by a diver) who just took a swab, and I was good in less than a minute. The main carry on with the BCD cleared fine and it was much easier to not have everything mixed together.

Later that day since I now had to clear US customs as well at MSP, it got flagged, this time the TSA employee just took the regs out of the reg carrying case and put them through the scanner again sprawled out in bins. Took a few minutes, not that annoying.

Still beats the risk of losing your checked luggage ...

 

[diverdoug1]

If everybody would write their congressman it might helps some. Frankly, I wish we could go back to pre-911. All of this security is a placebo. Nobody will ever hijack an airplane again because if they try it every guy on the airplane is going to open up a can of woop arse on the idiot. There is simply no way to beat technology, if we have to take our shoes off then what happens when some guy tries exploding eye glasses or makes his underwear waste band out of zipcord? What if he they swallow the device. There are chemicals which when swallowed could turn the human body into a fireball, take the pill before flight, have an acid reactive casing which will dissolve releasing the explosive agent into the stomach, kaboom! Some people actually went to college and have degrees in chemistry and physics and certainly can fabricate all manner of dangerous devices from common materials including the body. In a few more years expect genetic modified organisms and low end nuke stuff to become common technology much like flipping a light switch. We would do all of ourselves a favor if instead of making us strip down we would just profile the bad guys. I am sick of that Patriot Act BS also.
N

Pray tell what are these mystical chemicals that can turn the human body into a fireball? I majored in Math, Physics, and Biology (prior to going to medical school), and I have never heard of such a chemical that can be injested, and cause combustion of the flesh. It would have wonderful applications putting crematories out of business. Even a large plug of a reactive salt metal such as sodium would not have this kind of effect. I think I must call BS on Nimrod's post!!!

Also, with respect to profiling, I think it is stupid to profile. I say this not because I am some bleeding heart (far from it), I just don't want to underestimate how ruthless the terorists will be. They could kidnap some sweet 80 year old grandpa's grand-daughter, and tell Pop's to carry a weopon on the plane, or else they cut the grand-daughters head off. It's best to check everyone.

 

[Gilldiver]

If everybody would write their congressman it might helps some. Frankly, I wish we could go back to pre-911. All of this security is a placebo. Nobody will ever hijack an airplane again because if they try it every guy on the airplane is going to open up a can of woop arse on the idiot. There is simply no way to beat technology, if we have to take our shoes off then what happens when some guy tries exploding eye glasses or makes his underwear waste band out of zipcord? What if he they swallow the device. There are chemicals which when swallowed could turn the human body into a fireball, take the pill before flight, have an acid reactive casing which will dissolve releasing the explosive agent into the stomach, kaboom! Some people actually went to college and have degrees in chemistry and physics and certainly can fabricate all manner of dangerous devices from common materials including the body. In a few more years expect genetic modified organisms and low end nuke stuff to become common technology much like flipping a light switch. We would do all of ourselves a favor if instead of making us strip down we would just profile the bad guys. I am sick of that Patriot Act BS also.
N

Nemrod, I'm just glad Richard Reed (The Shoe Bomber) hid his bomb in his shoe and not up his ass.