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TSA "regrets" the nipple ring situation
It's been hard not to miss the nipple ring story these past two days. But for those of you that were paying attention to other things, a woman flying from Lubbock to Dallas this week was forced to remove her nipple ring with pliers before clearing security and being allowed to board the aircraft. Although she offered to show her nipple rings to Transportation Security Administration officials, they wouldn't back down. To make matters worse, not only was she handed a pair of pliers after she couldn't remove the ring by herself, but she heard TSA officials snickering as she struggled -- a little painfully -- to pull the ring out. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way," said Mandi Hamlin. I think most of us would probably agree with her.
In response to the whole incident, today the TSA blogging team wrote a post to remind everyone that their "questions and comments on the incident in Lubbock, Texas have not gone unnoticed." The TSA blog does such a good job of responding to our needs.
Although Hamlin is pushing for a civil rights investigation, the TSA holds that "the security officers followed the procedures for when someone alarms the metal detector and did nothing wrong." The security officers may have followed the correct procedures, but in an official statement the TSA made its best attempt at apologizing. "TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."
Filed under: North America, United States, News, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kathleen Mar 31st 2008 10:28AM
Hello there. I too was traveling and when i landed in California on my way home. I was asked to remove my breast piercing. But i sat behind the curtain and waited. I was then asked if i removed them and i answered NO. I said as soon as i am out and if i do miss my flight i will call the news. WELL , i did not remove my piercing and then they sent a lady in, she then said take off your bra and i will take look, but she is not allowed to see skin. So she looked through my blouse. I DID NOT TAKE OFF MY PIERCING and DID NOT Miss my flight. Kathleen
Setsuna198918@aol.com Aug 28th 2008 12:57AM
...I want to know what the hell these people had in their bodies. I have traveled about twice a month for the past 4 to 5 years, sometimes more often than that, and for the past two years I have had nipple piercings and navel piercings, and in the last year have added a tongue ring and a lip ring to the mix. Never have I set off the metal detector. Mind you, I would have been pretty pissed off had my piercings set a detector off, but I just don't understand how a pair of piercings would have set the detector off.
Shirley Feb 15th 2010 12:22PM
It depends on what airport you are flying from and how sensitive the metal detectors are.
JACK Mar 18th 2009 2:00PM
Why are you surprised. These scanning devices are supposed to be calibrated on a regular basis (daily). However, you're dealing with minimum wage employees working for a government agency. Think about this the next time they mention National Health Care!!!!
Shayna Apr 9th 2009 4:04PM
I don't get these stories. I travel a lot with school and sports. I have multiple piercing 19 in all. 8 in each ear my navel, lip and tongue. I also always wear a belt wherever I go and my chain with my family rings. Depending on specific airports I may or may not have had to remove the belt and chain. But never once have I removed ANY of my piercing all 19 of them and I have never EVER set off the alarm. I've traveled to all different airports as well. You'd think with all that metal I would. I even expect and wear easy to remove jewelery so as not to hold up the line 'cause you never know. But I find it rather convenient that all of the women being stopped have a BREAST piercing or a piercing in another PRIVATE area. If I can get away with two 14g piercings and 16 other smaller ones. Why can't these women with just ONE 14-16g piercing get by with no hassle. Makes me wonder....
nancy Nov 8th 2010 1:43PM
i travel quite often. i carry a leather change purse with a metal clasp inside my bra cup. only one time when the bell sounded and they wanded me down did this come into question. that one time i had several silver dollars in the purse and the metal detector went off.