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TSA checkpoint fails to detect stun gun - airport ramp worker finds it
Stories showing the incompetence of some of the agents in charge of screening our airports are getting a little boring - unfortunately the TSA keeps providing new examples of just how inefficient they can be. An incident at Albany International Airport is just another where the TSA checkpoint missed a potentially hazardous item.
Amy Burns had passed through the checkpoint with her child and a stroller. Nobody at the checkpoint found anything, so she proceeded to the gate.
It wasn't until a ramp worker prepared to load her stroller into the baggage hold when he discovered a stun gun stowed in the storage basket of the stroller.
Instead of admitting failure and apologizing for the mistake, a TSA spokesperson tried to spin things to make it appear that their "multiple levels of security" prevented the stun gun from getting on the plane. I was not aware that ramp workers were now part of the TSA.
In fact, had the passenger not left the item in her stroller, she would have been able to bring it on board. Of course, there is no evidence that she had intended to use it on the flight, but in a day and age where a nail file is considered a potential weapon, being able to sneak a stun gun past the trained security officers does not give me much faith in their screening skills.
(Via: Timesunion.com)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gordon Feb 23rd 2009 12:32PM
Instead of admitting failure and apologizing for the mistake, a TSA spokesperson tried to spin things to make it appear that their "multiple levels of security" prevented the stun gun from getting on the plane. I was not aware that ramp workers were now part of the TSA.
I read the original story on the Times Union website and didn't interpret the TSA spokesperson as saying the ramp worker was part of the TSA. However, I think it is fair to say that all employees working inside the security perimeter probably have a responsibility to report anything suspicious. This doesn't, of course, absolve the TSA of responsibility for the fact that the stun gun made it through security undetected.
The "multiple levels of security" mentioned by the TSA spokesperson seemed to be reminding people that once on board there are multiple defences against malicious acts by passengers.
Emland Feb 23rd 2009 1:23PM
I wish those of you who love to hate the TSA could just work at checkpoint or baggage for one day. Perhaps if you got a taste of what it is like on the other side you wouldn't be so nasty.
As long as there are humans involved there will be mistakes. These screeners are checking millions of people and unfortunately, they are going to miss something now and again.
It does answer the question so many people ask about why people with strollers and wheelchairs are checked. It is easy to hide a device or weapon in a stroller or wheelchair that can't be x-rayed. You have to rely on the screeners eyes, ears and hands. Perhaps the screener forgot their training and saw a mother and child and thought "there's no threat here" and let them pass without a thorough check of the stroller.
Without a doubt, there will be intense retraining in Albany.
Brian Feb 23rd 2009 2:15PM
I highly doubt that people would rip on TSA so heavily if they weren't such jerks with more than a few being simply unbelievably rude.
Their general lack of concern for passengers' emotional well-being makes their lack of efficacy in protecting their physical well-being all the more glaring and outrageous.
You will never find me defending them by saying "you try what they do." Most jobs have some kind of degree of difficulty and most of us seem to be able to accomplish them without being so surly. And when your job is as important as theirs, I will have little tolerance for missteps
Emland Feb 24th 2009 8:02AM
Brian,
I was a baggage screener for ORF from 2002-2003. That was before the CT scanners. It was all done with swiping machines and manual searches. Most people were either friendly or completely neutral - just stood by and submitted to the search.
In each flight, however, there was always a jerk. A guy (or gal) who was loud, rude and nasty about being chosen as a selectee. I had an active duty Navy Chief tell me she was going to slap the sh*t out of me if I even thought about doing a full search on her seabag. It got to the point the LEOs were called. I never said a word to her except to explain what I was going to do to her bag. I bet if you get her side of the story I was a rude, nasty, out of control hag.
You see, it' all a matter of point of view.
Vagina Feb 27th 2009 12:00PM
Screening skills be damned, in the old days we would have proved the device worked by demonstrating it... on the ramp worker for his teenage meddling and then continued boarding our flight to Detroit. Freshly disembarqued airline passengers would be such an easy target for assaults, because they've already been rendered so defenseless by Homeland Security.