Umbrellas and other things at Airport Screening

[jukebox333]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

One of my colleagues was passing through security at LAX with his family when they took his son aside and frisked him. "Excuse me, sir, but what is this thing on your back, under your shirt?", he was asked suspiciously. The young fellow, quite terrified, responded "Oh my god, what is it?"...
Turned out to be his shoulder blade!

Typical! Hired security rock ape must have misread the directive about "no scalpels" on board as "no scapulas"...

 

[Meggsy]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

I saw a classic at Gold Coast airport some years back. It was shortly after the Australian Protective Services started working at OOL and I was following them into the sterile area one day and they were stopped and asked to take off their gun belts and put them through the scanner. A few quick bemused looks later they complied, put them through and quickly collected them again on the other side. I am still not sure if the security guy was taking the p&%s or sincerely wanted to confirm they were in fact guns and, yes, you can now have them back inside the sterile area:shock: What else could he have been looking for??

 

[Flying Fox]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Big blobs of it. Hmm, what does blu tack look like :shock: ........they must think he chews a lot of bubble gum.:shock:

Maybe they thought that it was C4? I wouldn't recommend sticking a mobile phone and a few wires together with blu tack as that might get a very bad reaction!

 

[Pushka]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Maybe they thought that it was C4? I wouldn't recommend sticking a mobile phone and a few wires together with blu tack as that might get a very bad reaction!

That's the thing, it does look like C4 but security has never ever queried it.

 

[Archphoto]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Couple of things I saw when working at the airport;

Group of Russians going to DME had brought a crate of Dark Leffe. They were told it could not go through security so they just drank all 24 bottles there and then :shock:

An older gentleman had to put his walking stick through the scanner and it had a dagger under the handle :shock: took a while to explain that he could not take his walking stick on board.

I remember going through CNX a few years back, with one of my Thai friends who insisted (ignoring his girlfriend's assertions) we could take a partial 1L bottle of Johnny Walker Green through with us as carry on.

Well naturally he was stopped, so three of us stood to the side of the x-ray machine, and proceeded to finish the final quarter of the bottle, much to the amusement of both the Thai security officers, and other passengers.

If we couldn't take it through - no way was it going to be wasted!!

 

[medhead]

Maybe they thought that it was C4? I wouldn't recommend sticking a mobile phone and a few wires together with blu tack as that might get a very bad reaction!

Oh you've reminded me for my children's 6 singing barbie dolls, one each from France, Spain and Italy. Long, plastic objects with wires and batteries inside. :shock: yes they got a special test at FRA

I guess there is also that russian bloke who downed a bottle of vodka and promptly got kicked off his flight.

 

[Jude Starr]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

I've never had any interesting situations (though i am enjoying reading all of yours). In fact, my only story was kind of in reverse. I was flying (domestic) and had a real human skull in my hand luggage...I fully expected to be pulled aside and asked about it, I mean it would be pretty obvious in the x-ray of the bag (it was all kosher - from my grandfather's days as a medical student in the 1930's), but they said nothing. Try and take a pair of nail scissors and they're on you like a ton of bricks, but trafficking in human body parts apparently doesn't raise an eyebrow. Hahaha!

 

[Justchecking]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

That's the thing, it does look like C4 but security has never ever queried it.

Tax dollars at work?

 

[Mattg]

One Saturday evening at SYD, I put my bag through the x-ray machine, walked through the metal detector, picked up my bag and walked off. However, there was nobody watching the computer when my bag went through, and no-one even noticed I was there! There was just a few staff talking, about 10m away, not paying any attention! Of course, I didn't have anything dangerous but what if someone who did had just walked on through?!

 

[Justchecking]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

One Saturday evening at SYD, I put my bag through the x-ray machine, walked through the metal detector, picked up my bag and walked off. However, there was nobody watching the computer when my bag went through, and no-one even noticed I was there! There was just a few staff talking, about 10m away, not paying any attention! Of course, I didn't have anything dangerous but what if someone who did had just walked on through?!

Terminal Evac, not unlike recent events in Sydney. Hmmm....maybe that's what 'really' happened.

 

[Vinny]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Was flying SFO-HNL. While waiting in line a woman who was dressed by inspiration and went to the deportment school of the naz_ party demanded my passport. She barked at me to stand over there, which I did.

Several other pax of non US nationalities were given similar treatment. Mainly Canadians and Europeans.

A rude officious pr!ck approached me demanding to see my hand luggage and passport yet again.

My digital camera came to his attention. He asked what it was. I replied it was a digital camera. He barked "Open it!" I replied it had already been X-rayed twice and surely he has seen one of these before. The only openings were the battery compartment, computer connector port and lens.

I repacked my luggage and moved on telling him surely he must have seen a digital camera before. I had so much more to say but zipped my lips until I got on the plane.

I notice that at JFK at least the immigration and security people have been asked to show courtesy to all passport carriers. I thought it was common sense.

 

[Vinny]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Akk and another one. Flying from LAX-YVR the border guard at YVR asked me why I was in Canada. I replied long service leave so I had some time to travel.

The response - " Oh, is that some kind of recoupment time for a disease?"

 

[NM]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

My strange moment was when I was expecting problems but didn't even raise a sideways look.

At DFW I opened by backpack and wheelie case and removed three laptop computers and placed each in its own tub. My layout of three computer tubs, a backpack, a wheelie case, a tub with 1 litre zip-lock bag with liquid nsaties, tub with belt and shoes must have been an impressive line-up.

Nobody even blinked. No questions. No comments. Just smiles and "have a nice day" as I gathered the aray of tub contents and stuffed it all back into its home position.

 

[Fantic125]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Try travelling India. My carry-on luggage consists of a rolla-board containing;

laptop,
LAG's,
Bose headphones,
E-reader,
digital camera,
i-pod,
bag of cables for all the above.
​

It takes 3 trays and 24 head wobbles now to get through ...

 

[rechoboam]

Was flying SFO-HNL. While waiting in line a woman who was dressed by inspiration and went to the deportment school of the naz_ party demanded my passport. She barked at me to stand over there, which I did.

Several other pax of non US nationalities were given similar treatment. Mainly Canadians and Europeans.

A rude officious pr!ck approached me demanding to see my hand luggage and passport yet again.

My digital camera came to his attention. He asked what it was. I replied it was a digital camera. He barked "Open it!" I replied it had already been X-rayed twice and surely he has seen one of these before. The only openings were the battery compartment, computer connector port and lens.

I repacked my luggage and moved on telling him surely he must have seen a digital camera before. I had so much more to say but zipped my lips until I got on the plane.

I notice that at JFK at least the immigration and security people have been asked to show courtesy to all passport carriers. I thought it was common sense.

I was stunned how easy MeL-laX-ORD was after all the horror stories. tSA never said a word to me, didn't look at me, Customs very friendly, queue bad but not much worse than Mel on a bad day

 

[Groundfeeder]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

So far I have suffered confiscation of small nail clipper, 1.5 inch long Victorinox pocket knife (retirement gift:evil and most recently small scissors from wetpack which haven't seen the light of day for 10 years.

Being a boatie, I have a small brass anchor on my key ring (yes ...with retractable key as discussed!!) so I fear this could well be strike 4 and five shortly.

 

[Canny man]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

Was on the plane in Brussels a few years ago ready to take off. A security person came on board and asked for a female passenger by name. There was an isssue with her bag. As I was in the first row I heard that the issue was something vibrating in her bag which had gone into the hold. She was asked to get off the plane and open the bag for investigations.

Well, the window side of the plane got a good look at the rather large sex toy which had spontaneously switched itself on. I've never seen a face so red as when she got back on the plane....

 

[Sprucegoose]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

No. He was too busy lecturing me on how I was endangering national security with soft cheese...:shock:

Obviously you were inbound.

 

[Warks]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

The most memorable for me, was watching security’s x-ray video screen, after walking through the detector and waiting for my bag. While I was mesmerised by the different colour screens cycling through, it was a bit of a sudden shock to see a sketch of a hand gun overlaying my bag’s image.

I watched the scan of my bag going through in TSV or CNS a while back and to my horror spotted a hand grenade in my bag. The guy monitoring the machine froze it, reversed the conveyor belt and it disappeared as it came back through.

I'd heard from someone that these little things are 'animations' (for want of a better word) thrown in to keep the monitoring staff on their toes.

 

[ben7k]

Re: Strange moments at Airport Security

I recently got pulled up in Sydney T3 for my flash drive with a retractable USB connector. I guess this is similar to the OP's key in that the same mechanism could be used to conceal a blade. In the past it's been a spiral bound notebook that I carry that has raised suspicion.