Tidings Of Comfort & Joy

[redbrunja]

 After the failed Northwest Airlines bombing, the TSA tightened up its regulations, requiring that all flights in the US and coming to the US had every passenger patted down prior to boarding and carry only one item onboard, which will be searched by hand prior to boarding. Additionally, during the last hour of the flight, passengers are not allowed to leave their seats, access their luggage, or use handheld electronics, and must sit with their hands in plain view.

What this tells me is that the TSA is fairly clueless on how to keep travelers safe.

I am all for bumping up safety when attacks or threats happen; but the epic delays and cancellations that occurred when these new restrictions came into effect leads me to infer that the TSA does not have the infrastructure to deal with threats, which is ridiculous when you realize they have had nine years since September 11th.

And as for keeping your hands in sight and not using electronics during the last hour – frankly, that is treating people like criminals. I have a very emotional reaction to this; all I can think about is that after paying for an expensive ticket, taking an abnormal amount of time to prove that you are a.) who you say you are and b.) safe to have on a plane, you are treated like a prisoner being transported from one jail to another.

Furthermore, all it seems to do is show that the TSA safety procedures do not work. Or the TSA doesn't have faith that they do, if they think that after going through three different screening processes, they still believe there is a reasonable probability that passengers are carrying hazardous materials.

Finally, I have a huge problem with how mum the TSA is being about why they tightened restrictions and even WHAT the tightened restrictions are. One of the callers on NPR today flew in from Charles de Galle and commented that if he hadn't been a journalist and had access to the wires, he wouldn't have know what was going on.

Comments

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, I wonder if this was the actual plot of the terrorists -- not to kill a handful of people, but to annoy the fuck out of millions. I mean, making passengers throw out cups of coffee that they just bought at the airport and are actively drinking, or a pair of folding scissors from my first aid kit that I had forgotten were in there and were actually rather blunt with rounded tips, or the guy who was deemed a terrorist for spending too long in the bathroom, when he was actually just very sick after eating the airport food.

. . . what happens if someone needs to use the bathroom during the hands-where-we-can-see period? Do they just have to hold it in? What if they have bladder problems? Do the airlines want to just let 'em soak the seats?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

If I believed extremist groups of any flavor could have a sense of humor, I'd buy that.

or the guy who was deemed a terrorist for spending too long in the bathroom, when he was actually just very sick after eating the airport food.

Sweet Jesus.

. . . what happens if someone needs to use the bathroom during the hands-where-we-can-see period? Do they just have to hold it in? What if they have bladder problems? Do the airlines want to just let 'em soak the seats?

Exactly my question. And since the TSA was barely talking about what measure were talking, they certainly weren't providing any answers.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Not so much a sense of humour, as the same view of efficiency in evil as Crowley.

Actually, I can see Crowley being behind the airport regulations. That's the same kind of style as you see from a guy who takes down a cell phone network for an afternoon to sow the seeds of evil in everyone.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Very true.

[korinacaffeine.livejournal.com]

The less-than-3oz. for liquids deal really bothers me. I went through airport security not too long ago, and I had my makeup bag packed deep inside my luggage bag. I had one of those TINY, TINY tester bottles for the perfume inside the makeup bag, and they absolutely tore apart my luggage, underclothes and all manner of personal items in plain view for everyone to see--just to put that perfume tester bottle in a plastic baggie. It's absolutely ridiculous, and like redbrunja said, after paying a damn fortune for the ticket, it's maddening to be treated like a criminal.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Heh. A while back, heading back from a convention, I'd been thoughtful enough to check in early. The airport I went to was one of the ones that x-rays your checked bags as well as your carry-on -- and I'd been careful enough to put anything that might be possibly viewed as dangerous or personal (knives, underwear) in the checked bag. I thought it would be safer that way.

They tore open my checked bag and pulled everything out because I'd packed a)a pair of metal toy handcuffs (they didn't actually lock) for a cosplay idea I later abandoned and b)some nice knives I'd picked up at the con (I collect 'em). I had to stand in the middle of the security area, unable to so much as approach my suitcase to tuck away the underwear, and wait for half an hour for the cops to arrive and tell the idiot that they were toy cuffs and that the knives were not actually illegal.

My various issues include social anxiety, and this did not help my condition one iota. Especially as I was not permitted to reach for my medication.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

UNACCEPTABLE! SO FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE!

Sweet jesus.

Especially as I was not permitted to reach for my medication.

I'm pretty sure that is actually ILLEGAL. Motherfuckers.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

The idiot couldn't tell the difference between a snapblade and a lockblade knife (basic def: One can be flicked open, the other takes some concentration to get the mechanism to release the blade).

The cop was not very nice, either, until the point at which the line of questioning revealed my mind was in the same place as it was during exam panic where I blanked on 'Name', and she finally thought to ask if I was on any medication while I attempted to keep the hyperventilation controlled.

Ha ha! You think legality matters to airport security? When you cross the border to the US with a laptop, they can copy your entire hard drive just to check and see if you've got anything on there that might be terrorist-related. A guy my brother knows works for an Australian company that had this contract with the US government, and were charged 400k for letting confidential files be copied. By the US government.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

God, that is so... well, it's terribly believable, but it's just another blazing sign that things need to change greatly.