Mar 5th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
The latest in baggage scanning technology looks kind of like the CT scanner hospitals use to to look inside the human body much like a loaf of bread, one slice at a time. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials hope this new tool will do a better, faster job detecting explosives in baggage.
The Explosives Detection Systems (EDS) machine runs with CT scan technology, modified ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
TransportationSecurityAdministration posts
Baggage Scanning Technology Evolving
Mar 5th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
The latest in baggage scanning technology looks kind of like the CT scanner hospitals use to to look inside the human body much like a loaf of bread, one slice at a time. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials hope this new tool will do a better, faster job detecting explosives in baggage.
The Explosives Detection Systems (EDS) machine runs with CT scan technology, modified ...AK State Rep. takes ferry back home after refusing TSA full body scan
Feb 21st, 2011 at 11:30AM: When Alaska State Rep. Sharon Cissna tried to fly from Seattle back home to Juneau, she was was directed towards one of the new full body scanning machines. When something showed up on the scanner that needed extra attention, she was told she'd need a full pat-down instead.
Cissna, who has a mastectomy refused the invasive security treatment and left the airport, opting to travel back to Alaska ...Gun carrying jetBlue pilot in hot water after embarrassing backpack incident
Jan 14th, 2011 at 10:30AM: In what can only be described as a monumental screwup, a pilot for jetBlue managed to lose sight of his federally issued gun, and spent the next 40 minutes trying to locate it.
The pilot in question, Michael Connery Jr. was boarding his plane when he set his backpack down to chat with a fellow crew member. In the boarding process, a passenger on a different flight picked up her own bags, and ...TSA causes two international incidents by searching Indian diplomats
Dec 13th, 2010 at 8:45AM:
It seems we common folk aren't the only ones who find TSA's security checks intrusive. Transportation Security Administration officials have recently caused not one but two international incidents with India by searching diplomats.
India's ambassador to the U.S. Meera Shankar got frisked at an airport on December 4. She was pulled out of the line because she had brown skin and was wearing a ...TSA to impede travel market recovery? Not buyin' it
Nov 29th, 2010 at 8:00AM:
When I finally crawled out of bed and caffeinated Saturday morning, I made the rounds on Twitter and found a bold statement by travel journalist Christopher Elliott: "Thanks to TSA, 2011 could be a flat year for travel". Despite the digging he did, I'm just not buying it. Passenger inconvenience, especially when it comes to leisure trips, isn't likely to have a major effect on the travel ...Desperate TSA looking for new colleagues at gas stations - promises free X-Ray vision and benefits
Nov 4th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
After advertising on pizza boxes, the TSA at Reagan National Airport have now resorted to advertising at D.C. area gas stations. In their ad for part time security officers, they promise a career where "x-ray vision and federal benefits come standard". Perhaps I'm overreacting, but using x-ray screening equipment as a job perk seems rather tacky.
I'm also surprised that four months after ...New TSA pat down runs up inner thigh, new thrill for travelers
Oct 29th, 2010 at 8:00AM: If you haven't been on a date in a while, ask for a manual search. The Transportation Security Administration is going to start getting a bit cozier with passengers who opt for this check, giving stiff competition to the likes of Plenty of Fish.
According to an MSNBC report, the TSA is going to start using the fronts of their hands in their pat downs – and will include a new part of the ...$11.5 million buys little security at Newark Liberty Airport
Sep 22nd, 2010 at 2:30PM: Security gaps are so big at Newark Liberty International Airport you can drive a truck through them. Literally. Inside the terminal, the TSA goes through bags and confiscates oversized fluid containers, but no inspection occurs when trucks and vans drive through security checkpoints and out onto the tarmac. Security company FJC is responsible for protecting the airport, reports Fox 5, for which it ...Lady Gaga's attire not an immediate threat, says TSA
Sep 16th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
When leaving Los Angeles after the MTV Video Music Awards, performer Lady Gaga was spotted with a handcuff hanging directly in front of her from a belt around her waist. The singer was leaving town after picking up eight awards and was dressed, well, as expected.
Always clad in shocking attire, Lady Gaga's exploits looked like they were putting her on a collision course with the TSA, as ...
Pregnant passenger badgered into body scanner
Sep 9th, 2010 at 3:30PM: At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a pregnant passenger saw that she'd have to go through the full body scanner and instead asked for a TSA pat-down. Her request fell on deaf ears, she told The Consumerist, and was pushed into the decision to get scanned. According to the logic applied by the TSA folks, the passenger says, "Oh it is less than an ultrasound, and it's really easy so just go ...In yet another "isolated incident" - TSA officer accused of stealing laptops from lost & found
Aug 24th, 2010 at 4:30PM: Bad apples are found in every part of life - but the Transportation Security Administration seems to have a lot of bad luck keeping bad apples out of their ranks.
On Monday, 40 year old Jennifer Steplight surrendered to face charges that she stole four laptops from a TSA lost and found facility, and that she covered up the theft by creating false records.
Steplight was in charge of ...Ex-TSA official risks up to a decade in the slammer for jewelry theft
Aug 17th, 2010 at 9:30AM: Are fees for extra bags reason enough to keep you from checking luggage? Well, thanks to a rogue Transportation Safety Administration, you now have another one. Randy Pepper, a former TSA supervisor has entered a guilty plea, admitting to the theft of more than $20,000 in passenger belongings, including jewelry, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The 50-year-old, on whom the traveling ...Feds cop to airport scanner porn
Aug 5th, 2010 at 11:00AM: The feds are keeping an archive of under-the-flesh security shots. Though the TSA has said in the past that airport body scans can't be stored or recorded, some agencies are now revealing archives of the revealing. Well, that isn't true after all, according to CNET:
Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this ...TSA job demographic: must eat lots of pizza
Jul 14th, 2010 at 10:00AM: The TSA is looking for fitness freaks and health gurus to keep our planes and airports safe. This is a pretty important job, so it makes sense that the agency would be committed to sourcing the best of the best. When you walk through airport security, the goal is to make you think twice about that box-cutter tucked in your boot.
That's why the TSA is advertising its open positions on pizza ...Government department in charge of airport security can't stop losing their own stuff
Feb 25th, 2010 at 11:30AM: How upset would you be if you lost your laptop computer? How upset do you think your boss would be if your company lost not one, but one thousand of them?
The loss of 1000 computers within a single government department is apparently not much of an issue, because that is how many went missing at the Department of Homeland Security in 2008.
The department is in charge of the TSA as well as ...TSA investigator has butterfingers
Jan 4th, 2010 at 4:00PM: Loose lips sink ships, right?
A TSA that has been reactive since the beginning of December – thanks to leaks of both its operating manual and a sensitive security memo – is now sporting another black eye. It seems that one of the investigators who delivered a subpoena to the home of travel blogger Steven Frischling couldn't keep track of his notebook. According to a post by blogger ...Airport pat-downs: exercise in futility
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 10:00AM: Is this really a shock? Pat-downs don't work well. Aviation experts say that government rules limit where the security folks can check, which means that would-be bombers only need to stash their illicit goods in the uncomfortable places that can't be touched. Any frequent traveler has been subject to this ritual at least once – and has probably wondered what good it does. Arms, armpits and ...Ten products to avoid when passing through airport security
Sep 29th, 2009 at 10:00AM: digg_url = 'http://digg.com/travel_places/Ten_products_to_avoid_when_passing_through_airport_security'; The Transportation Security Administration spends millions of Dollars each year trying to inform airline passengers what to leave at home, and how to safely pack things.
We should all know by now that liquids come with restrictions, and that swords and other dangerous items will be taken ...Rochester tarmac delay: "lack of common sense"
Aug 22nd, 2009 at 3:00PM: "There was a complete lack of common sense here," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement released yesterday. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."
When 47 passengers were stranded overnight on the tarmac in Rochester, Minnesota, the pilot repeatedly asked for permission to deplane them. All the pilot wanted was to get the passengers off the plane. ...Sexologist has carry-on inspected, TSA keeps cool
Jul 19th, 2009 at 5:00PM: Robocop sets off alarms. Of course, this "Robocop" is the nickname sexologist David Steinberg has for an 8-inch solid brass sex toy. Even a TSA official could see that one coming. This device was stored safely at home, but Steinberg's bag of goodies still attracted inspector attention at the airport in Seattle.
For once, it may have been prudent to respond, "No," when asked if the security ...
