Airport Security Nightmare

[Boo Boo Kitty 3]

I am sorry you had a bad experiance too, I ma going to complain bigtime.... i just didnt want any trouble before my flight so i kept quiet.

I felt the same way Cindy. Isn't it sad we can feel so violated and humiliated but scared to speak up at the time? All I wanted was to get out of the middle of the damn airport where everyone could see me being 'felt up'. Why do they have that power over us?

[steph_co 9]

You guys still have civil rights. If there's a problem that needs immediate attention, then ask to see a supervisor because you don't agree with how they are searching you/your property. This way you have somebody that is over their head so they can't claim that you did something wrong - you'll have a witness. I wouldn't recommend telling them how they are supposed to do their job...human nature in general doesn't like that. But you could simply ask why they are doing something a certain way when it would make more sense to just (for instance) touch OVER the clothing rather than having to see bare skin so that nobody is embarrassed. If they still won't see reason, when they get finished, ask to speak with a MANAGER. There is almost always one nearby if you are in a larger airport. Explain the problem in detail, let them know that you put up with the poor treatment, but that it was uncalled for and that you'll be putting in a complaint and possibly contacting the ACLU. That'll put the dread in any manager's heart. LOL

[green 6]

You guys still have civil rights. If there's a problem that needs immediate attention, then ask to see a supervisor because you don't agree with how they are searching you/your property. This way you have somebody that is over their head so they can't claim that you did something wrong - you'll have a witness. I wouldn't recommend telling them how they are supposed to do their job...human nature in general doesn't like that. But you could simply ask why they are doing something a certain way when it would make more sense to just (for instance) touch OVER the clothing rather than having to see bare skin so that nobody is embarrassed. If they still won't see reason, when they get finished, ask to speak with a MANAGER. There is almost always one nearby if you are in a larger airport. Explain the problem in detail, let them know that you put up with the poor treatment, but that it was uncalled for and that you'll be putting in a complaint and possibly contacting the ACLU. That'll put the dread in any manager's heart. LOL

Civil rights may work in the U.S. and certainly those of us who live in Canada are free to complain after the humiliating fact. The freedom to complain, however, may be of little comfort when you find yourself caught up in some kind of bizarre beaurocratic issue, one which may affect you for no good reason.

Flying to a foreign country via the USA is usually not a problem for us Canucks. We pass through Ameri-customs before we board our flights up here in Canada. This is why it was easy for my mate and I to fly to Mexico via the US post 9/11. Coming back home sucked big time. We were scheduled to have a very short break between our drop off from the flight from Mexico City in our American hub centre and our connecting up with our flight to Toronto.

Wow! What a truly whacked out experience! And a very, very ugly one. It has always been our experience whenever we have been in an airport while on a stopover on an international flight that we would remain corralled in, well, that zone which I have come to call international land. Oh yah, the usual rule with international travellers is that they are kept in a kind of holding pen. The understanding is that the officials who initially cleared them for flight did do due diligence and that the immigration folks who will receive them will do the same thing. This is how it has always worked for Green. Indeed her most recent foreign trip was to Turkey via Amsterdam and neither she nor her mate received the kind o crap which was dished out to them that time when they were flying back from Mexico City.

Flying back to Canada via the Delta Airlines hub from Mexico City sure was a shock. None of the in-transit passengers were sequestered. We all had to go through immigration and then through some sort of additional exit line. Green, an ageing, a post-menopausal woman, and one who is so white that she is practically blue, finally found herself separated from her carry-on luggage. When she helpfully lunged forward in order to display its tatty contents she was ordered to step away. She watched the dude sweep something over it before giving her the nod.

As she was hauling her crap away she asked, "what was that?" and when he answered that he was checking her plastic carry-on case for gun powder residue she almost speechless.

In fact she stammered, "wow! That is, like, so Law&Order," before her mate hauled her away. She still finds the entire experience to be kinda bizarre, doncha know.

Of course we missed our flight and we arrived home many, many hours later. We eventually caught a flight to Cleveland. And then we had to run in order to make it on to the plane which was flying to Toronto. It took us 14 hours to find our bed and we had been exiled from international duty-free shopping. How f*cked up is that? (I've been talking about it ever since.)

[Eficka 0]

thats really weird couldnt it be something else? ports are supposed to be made of plastic or titaniun neither should set the alarms off...new joints are made of titanium and people with new joints dont "ring" at the airports...I flew like 10 times with the band and I never set the alarms off

[Paulax 8]

thats really weird couldnt it be something else? ports are supposed to be made of plastic or titaniun neither should set the alarms off...new joints are made of titanium and people with new joints dont "ring" at the airports...I flew like 10 times with the band and I never set the alarms off

I would really like to know the answer to this.....

[MC Cindy 0]

I have the midband and the port is titanium, it was the wand not the walk thru that set off which cause the uproar....it happened again when i flew home, i didnt say anything ans they just did a pat down. I am thinking the titanium is setting it off.

[Eficka 0]

Cindy, maybe in the US or Canada you have more sensitive security gates (or how is it called:-) but here in Europe I didnt have a problem with my titanium port

[Fanny Adams 7]

Hi Green - re the "gunpowder" check, that is standard in almost all airports nowadays. They do it in our airports (Australia) on interstate flights, and I'm pretty certain our security systems aren't as tight as yours, so it was nothing personal. I know my local airport staff have a quota of 1 person per minute coming through, so they pick out quite a large percentage. I fly every week to and from work and I get the explosives check wanding at least 1 flight in 3.

[aubrie 6]

Early one morning in the Corpus Christi airport, when there were very few passengers in the airport, I witnessed two young girls, both in Daisy Duke, cut-off shorts and skimpy T shirts, get stopped by two MALE security officers. This was at the gate, and not at the security check point. They talked to them, took them off to the side and said they had to "search" them for suspicious behavior. Both young girls were terrified. The men proceeded to hand search them, even using their hands to run down the length of their legs. Remember, they were wearing shorts. What purpose was there in searching their legs? I was horrified. So was my husband. I told him, if they say they have to search me, I am not getting on that plane and I will not go. He told me not to worry, he wouldn't let them touch me, and he would call the City Police before anything happened. Naturally, they didn't search me. I didn't quite have the figure of these two poor exploited young girls. I was so disgusted by the whole thing I almost vomited. So it happens. I watched it first hand.

[green 6]

Hi Green - re the "gunpowder" check, that is standard in almost all airports nowadays. They do it in our airports (Australia) on interstate flights, and I'm pretty certain our security systems aren't as tight as yours, so it was nothing personal. I know my local airport staff have a quota of 1 person per minute coming through, so they pick out quite a large percentage. I fly every week to and from work and I get the explosives check wanding at least 1 flight in 3.

Thanks for the information, sez Green. It still seems like a waste of time and manpower to me. I am all for profiling when it comes to airport security. It's faster and more efficient. Above all, it is logical!

[Wheetsin 714]

I fly VERY frequently and in all of my post-op flights, I have set off the metal detector once. I actually assumed it was a bobby pin in my hair, but after I removed the pins, I still set it off. So they took me aside and wanded me, and it picked up right on my port spot.

It actually confused me at first because I didn't have an underwire bra on, so I couldn't figure out what would be causing it. Finally it dawned on me and I told them I had an implant. After that the lady just asked me to point to the area of the implant, wanded it, it went off again, and she let me go. I've never had it happen any other time, even when going through that same gate.

Oh, she did ask me why I hadn't volunteered the information of an implant before going through the gate. I told her for one, I usually forget I have it. For two, the metal would be such a small amount, I never thought it would trigger (fillings don't trigger, staples didn't trigger, etc.). She seemed fine with that. I still don't make it a practice to announce I have an implant before going through the scanner. If it's ever an issue, I will just explain it again.

I mean, they're welcomes to look at my scar or feel the port if there are any doubts.

[steph_co 9]

Early one morning in the Corpus Christi airport, when there were very few passengers in the airport, I witnessed two young girls, both in Daisy Duke, cut-off shorts and skimpy T shirts, get stopped by two MALE security officers. This was at the gate, and not at the security check point. They talked to them, took them off to the side and said they had to "search" them for suspicious behavior. Both young girls were terrified. The men proceeded to hand search them, even using their hands to run down the length of their legs. Remember, they were wearing shorts. What purpose was there in searching their legs? I was horrified. So was my husband. I told him, if they say they have to search me, I am not getting on that plane and I will not go. He told me not to worry, he wouldn't let them touch me, and he would call the City Police before anything happened. Naturally, they didn't search me. I didn't quite have the figure of these two poor exploited young girls. I was so disgusted by the whole thing I almost vomited. So it happens. I watched it first hand.

That made me sick to my stomach. That is an abuse of the position. Not only that, that is sexual assault. Those two could have easily been charged and paying the price right now. I wish somebody would have reported them. Again - if something questionable is being asked of you by somebody in a uniform, ask to speak with a supervisor. What they are doing needs to be brought to light. Male TSA are to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER touch a female unless there is not a single female TSA screener in that airport, and even then, generally a supervisor must be present in case of complaints. Your story reminds me of what happened to that girl at that McDonald's when the "officer" called in and requested she be strip-searched. I want to throw up.

[Daisalana 33]

The booklet I got from INamed says it will not set off airport security.

Very bizarre!

I flew in July with band, and had no problems (in Vegas & Atlanta airports)

[steph_co 9]

Green, it's standard practice for passengers to not touch a carry-on once it is under control of TSA. It makes it difficult to control the situation if somebody's hands are all over it. If you had ever worked that job, you would understand. And with all the possible distractions, who's to say that they couldn't slip something out from under the TSA guard's glance?

There are signs all over the checkpoint upon entering - you are submitting to a search of your person and property just by putting your items on the x-ray belt and walking through the magnetometer. That's not a violation of civil rights. It's called an administrative search. Now, if they had taken your undies out and flashed them around, then YES - that can be a violation of your basic civil rights and you don't have to complain after the fact, you can demand a supervisor and complain RIGHT THEN and there.

They are random screenings done with the ETD (Explosives Trace Detection) machine. Because when somebody makes a bomb, that stuff is sticky. Therefore, traces of it can be left on the bag. The machine checks for a wide variety of explosives...not just gunpowder. So one little tip...don't put on a ton of hand lotion with glycerin and then grab your handbag.

It's an unfortunate result of the society we live in that we have to be so careful. I'm sorry if you felt affronted by the process. I know it can be a little unnerving realizing that you (yes, you!) are being treated like a potential terrorist. But that's what everybody is that comes through those gates. Personally, I'd rather go through all the nonsense and know that my flight is safe.

[norgaw 0]

I was banded 1/07, have flown several times, and have set off the alarm once, for different reasons, ie: watch, metal on me. I have never mentioned my lap band, and I wouldn't. There is no metal on the band, and it is not their business, as is a IUD or any other personal implant. The band itself would never set off the alarm. I would not even mention it to the airport security, as this may alert them to a potential problem.