Banned items fly past security

[liberal N proud]

Liquids, gels getting past airport screeners

Wendy Shanker was passing through security at the St. Louis airport Friday when the X-ray machine detected a potential weapon inside her carry-on bag. A screener dug into the satchel and found a pair of scissors that Shanker used for knitting. The scissors' blades were shorter than the 4-inch federal limit so the screener plopped them back into the bag.

But he missed something else: Shanker's two-ounce container of Neutrogena hand cream, a substance banned since federal authorities clamped down last month on allowing liquids and gels into airline passenger cabins.

$75 hydrating gel
She would give only her first name, Nicole, saying that she worried about getting in trouble. At first, she admitted to a reporter that she was carrying a $75 hydrating gel in her backpack. Then, she revealed lip gloss, toothpaste, a bottle of expensive Chanel perfume and a $300 container of facial cleanser neatly packed in a bulging cosmetic case. Screeners never noticed the items, which she had no intention of checking, she said.

"There is no way I'm putting my Chanel in a checked bag," she said. Then she looked down at her two children: "Who knows what's in their bags?"

Gary Boettcher, a pilot and president of the Coalition for Airline Pilots Association, a trade group that closely tracks security issues, said he constantly sees people drinking from illicit bottles of water or putting on lip gloss when he walks through the passenger cabin. Most of the time, he said, it doesn't bother him.

"They are just doing their routines like they always did," Boettcher said. "An old woman drinking a bottle of water doesn't concern me. . . . The whole screening process is a facade to make the public feel safe, to show that the government is doing something."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14807713

[LynneSin]

1. I have my own similiar story

This was before the ban on liquids.

I have a cordless curling iron that I travel with. Now for those who don't know very much about cordless curling irons, they use a little cylinder filled with propane as their heating element. When the propane cell empties out you replace with a fresh one. Mind you, this is propane and if broken could probably be flamable to boot. But I had them because I like my cordless curling iron.

On my flight from Philly to Boston, I had my cordless curling iron and a couple of the cells in my carry-on luggage. I didn't think it was any issue and had no problems boarding the plane in Philly. On the way home, through Logan in Boston, they did find the propane cells and the Airline security people spent like 15 minutes trying to figure out wha they were and what to do with them (BTW, I was with another DUer - Ramsey. We were coming home from the Boston gathering). For me, I was just like "Throw them away, I have more at home", but they still kept calling people over to figure out what the heck to do with these cylinders (you can buy a 2 pack around $5-$10). After 20 minutes they finally threw away not only the 2 cylinders they found but the cordless curling iron I pulled out because essentially, the cordless curling iron works like a lighter.

When I got home and unpacked - I found 3 more propane cylinders in my carry-on

:shrug:

[wakeme2008]

2. bAd LynneSin

LynneSin :spank:

And if you were in Australia they would take your Woolite. :rofl:

Note the date of the below post, it was before the new bands.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=368x679

[Bucky]

3. New horror movie: "Neutrogena on an Airplane"

"I'm tired of this motherfuckin' Neutrogena on this motherfuckin' plane!"

[napi21]

4. I agree with the pilot! This security banning is a facade to make

the public THINK their gov't is doing something!

[magellan]

5. "The process is a facade...to show that the government's doing something."

No kidding? :eyes:

[City Lights]

6. My husband brought a 16 oz. can of Monster onto a plane.

They scolded him when they confiscated his toothpaste, deodorant, and water, but missed 16 ozs of liquid. :eyes: Airport "security" is a crap shoot.

[tenshi816]

7. I flew from the UK to Aruba via Amsterdam in mid-August,

just a few days after they had relaxed the rules from the "no-carryons-except-for-passport-and-tickets" hysteria of the week before. We were allowed one small carry-on, but no liquids/creams/gels, etc. - except, after checking in, going through screening and getting into the international departure area, I discovered a big sign in Duty Free saying "All items purchased in Duty Free will be allowed on board your aircraft". Naturally, I threw caution to the wind and treated myself to both a new lipstick and lipgloss.

On the flight back to the UK at the end of August, I took the works in my carry-on: lipgloss, lipstick, hand cream, moisturizer, sanitizing hand gel and a nail file with a sharp tip. Guess what? No one batted an eye at x-ray. I thought they might pick up on it when I went through x-ray again in Amsterdam but, no, I sailed right through with all of my contraband materials intact.

Seriously, what was the point of all that "security"?

Edited for typo

[Liberal In Texas]

8. I flew out of Dulles on 9/11/06.

Of all days, security was perfunctory at best. Lots of warnings about what you could or couldn't take on the monitors while waiting in the queue before going through security. It's almost like they're relying on voluntary compliance. Nobody even looked through my carryon, just zipped it through the x-ray machine.

BTW, lip balm (like Chap Stick or lip stick) is OK, according to the TSA announcements Monday.