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airport security

meowCat

Hello there,

I went on a little trip to Germany last weekend and on my way back to Ireland, at Frankfurt airport to be precise, and after they x-rayed my carry-on luggage, I got pulled aside and taken to a separate room to have my hair straightener (??!!!) checked for EXPLOSIVES!

I didn't make a scene or anything and am actually happy they are so careful.

However, I'm just wondering now, how many incidents have there been with explosives in hair straighteners or something like that. Any boardsie working at airport security perhaps?

Also, did you ever have any such experiences at any airport?

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connundrum

Lump wrote:

I never understand the banned object. Fair enough explosives gas etc.... but scissors! If I was going to kill someone with a nail scissors, I could easily do the same job with a pencil/pen/plastic knife/fork. Or if that failed, strangle them with my scarf! BAN THEM!!!!!

John

According to this we shouldn't carry anything at all :rolleyes: I love this bit -

"Take along a pre self-addressed stamped padded envelope in case you've mistakenly packed something that security won't allow you to take on-board. Most security personal will allow you to place the object in a mailer and use airport postal centers to mail it to yourself."

As if...

irlrobins

Mossy Monk wrote:

kind of like Total Recall

had my shoes removed in Dublin and picture taken in Stanstead, thats it. i want to go through that full body x-ray sometime

Everyone has their pic taken in the major UK airports. As they ask for your passport when u enter the departure area they take a pic with a camera. Then when you board the plane they check the pic they took matches with the person boarding the plane.

HelterSkelter

drdre wrote:

thats good to hear they are doing some checking. in dublin they make you takeoff your shoes:eek: .

The last time I went through Dublin (3 weeks ago) I didn't have to take off my shoes. I hope they have finished with that nonsense which is just window dressing to make the passengers feel like it is more secure than it really is.

robinph

All UK airports seem to take pictures of all passengers.

The taking a photo you at the security check was very common in UK airports for me until about the beginning of 2005 and then they seemed to stop doing it. They would only every do that for flights to Ireland and the Isle of Man though and not bother with any ither destinations.

Dublin seems to be the only airport that I'm going through much recently that needs laptops out of their bags as now where else seems to care. Just hope that they never ask me to turn my laptop on though as the battery is completely dead and it only works on mains power now.

I am constantly dissapointed that my hand luggage is never searched after going through the scanner though. The one time in Shannon when they asked me in a seperate check if I had anything sharp on me I then showed them the needles and they then left me on my way. But the needles are never picked up on the scanner.

The_Conductor

Brussels airport is still big on footwear. They don't make you take off your shoes though- they have a little metal detector thingy- you have to stand on it (it looks like an outsized weighing scales) and if it goes off- then you're shoes get checked.

I have pins in my legs, one ankle and feet- and always set those bloody things off.

Picture the confused security people when my bare feet set their machines off (I make a point of standing on the machine again after they make me take off my shoes). When I explain in poor French what the story is they do get a laugh though. You'd have thought that I wasn't the only one with this problem- it happens every single bloody time though......

On a similar note- its more difficult trying to get into any of the Commission buildings/Parliament etc over there- than any airport I've been through (with the exception of Zurich and the nightmares I have of Israel......)

My family went on holiday in Israel some years ago (before the last intafada really blew up) and stayed all over the place including in the West Bank (my father used to work for international organisations that were attempting to better things for the Palestinians). On leaving the family were seperated by security and my smallest sister (she was then 5 or 6) was taken to one side by a female security guard who plied her with sweets and came across as absolutely lovely. She asked her- if she had visited any nice Palestinian houses........ Needless to say we missed the flight....... They photocopied all Dad's notes (they were unable to read his hand-writing) and we were all interviewed for hours on end. Eventually after Dad was able to make a phone call security were called off, apologised and let us leave.

HelterSkelter

irlrobins wrote:

Everyone has their pic taken in the major UK airports. As they ask for your passport when u enter the departure area they take a pic with a camera. Then when you board the plane they check the pic they took matches with the person boarding the plane.

This doesn't happen in Heathrow. I have found the security there is very lax. My ID (Driving Licence) wasn't even checked last time.

*Tripper*

"Anything that vibrates is checked for explosives. Most of the time is an electric razor but every once in awhile its a dildo"
Fight Club

LundiMardi

i was padded down once.... sensual.

Willymuncher

drdre wrote:

thats good to hear they are doing some checking. in dublin they make you takeoff your shoes:eek: .

Its the same in Shannon, Chicago, Oklahoma, Dallas FW and Atlanta....so I guess they do the shoe thing in a lot of airports.

Only time I've ever been searched was in Manchester, they were a little suspicious of me for some reason.

el tel

There are loads of items that can double up as weapons on sale in the shops beyond the security screening areas and in the duty free so in most cases these searches are pointless.

Jumpy

seansouth wrote:

That isn't random, that is the norm in all airports in the world as far as I know. I've seen it on signs in London, Dublin, Bangkok, HongKong, Sydney and Melbourne.

Had to take my shoes off in Dublin, nowhere else. Got my pic taken in Bangkok, nowhere else. A dog does a sniff of every piece of baggage after you collect it in Sydney, and if you have drugs or explosives it doesn't go apesh*t barking all over the place, they are trained to just sit down beside the bag, then the officers walk off and come back without the dog and quietly ask you to come with them. I've seen it happen.

The Airport in Koh Samui, Thailand, was great, three or four thatched huts and a runway.

THe Sydney dogs smell out fruit.

Thats pretty much all they find. The beagles anyway.

irlrobins

Willymuncher wrote:

Its the same in Shannon, Chicago, Oklahoma, Dallas FW and Atlanta....so I guess they do the shoe thing in a lot of airports.

Yea they're big on the shoe thing in US airports. Was in DFW last year and was a bit fed up having to take my shoes off (had been thru a few US cities over the 2 weeks). Saw a sign saying "Passengers are not required to remove their shoes but we appreciate it." So decide not to bother this time.

As I pass metal detector security guard asks me to remove my shoes. I pointed at sign and said I thought I didn't need to: Bad Idea! Was pulled over to one side and was patted down, carry on bag opened and emptied, etc. Also had a box of beignet mix in the bag which looked just like a bag of coke! Thankfully once I explained what it was and where I got it he left it alone.

Also weird to see signs around where you check your bags into the xray machine stating "Please inform TSA official if your hold luggage contains a firearm." Texans and their guns! :rolleyes:

zen63

Domodedovo in Moscow has the coolest security scanner I have ever been through. You stand into a cubicle which closes and a light comes on - then a scanner moves down the cubicle, then you get out. You dont take off coats shoes, or any of the normal annoyances.

It was really Total Recall.

rubadub

LundiMardi wrote:

i was padded down once.... sensual.

The trick is to dress up as a woman and act suspicious. Then a woman will have to frisk you and find your "weapon"

Megatron

Only hastle i've ever got was in Las Vegas.

I was seemingly picked out fo a full scurity check ( thankfully no cavity search) as was my Dad.

So again , remove the shoes , show the holes in your socks

and then the secuirty guy asks me to remove all my carry on stuff.

So i do , a laptop is there which he asks me to strip down ( i even had to take out the poxy memory) , Now the Laptop had a bit of a accident , i had dropped a load of beer all over it, i explained this to the security gaurd and got no response .. he wandered off left me standing there, came back aobut 5 mins later with 2 armed guards... I then had to explaine how this had happened ( i'm a dumb ass is that what you want me to say .. thank fully i just said that in my head) , and why i had brought the Laptop with me ... so i made it out of the security checkpoint with 15 mins to get to my gate .. thankfully las vegas is a tiny place so didnt' take more than 5 mins to get there.

I find the quickest way to stop a security check when in the uk as it mention that the only reason your being checked is becuase your Irish ...

japanpaul

I nearly got caught bringing a little bit of weed into Pisa airport from Brussels a few days after September 11th.
I had it in my suitcase and hadn't touched it for at least 24 hours but the dog still smelt it from my hands. They searched us before we got our bags so I flushed it down the toilet before I went through passport checks. Lucky because we got the full strip search there:o
Since then any airport I go through I ALWAYS get searched. Landed in Tokyo 2 years ago and my friend walks straight through, I get stopped and have to take everything out of my suitcase. Went on a holiday to Thailand with the same friend and when we arrived back to Tokyo my bag got the sniffer dog treatment.
Coming home for my sisters wedding last summer stopped in Seoul and cute security lady said "can I put my hands in your trousers?" I think she meant on!! Still, it was nice to be asked:cool:

6ix

I was singled out a number of times last summer in some airports in the US. Apparently, its on your boarding pass, those who are to be searched are pre selected. The guy in LA showed me the special marking on the pass.

San Francisco was the most interesting, they put you into a cylindrical cubical with glass doors either side. Inside you're sprayed with jets of air (quite powerful -- my gf was told to hold down her top). This was experimental at SFO the time, apparently there is a sensor at the top of the cubical which can detect minute chemical traces of explosives.

Was something different at least. What I find funniest is how suspicious they are. As the guy was searching my hand luggage, I got up from my seat to fix my belt & he freaked out -- 'Sir, please remain seated -- SIT DOWN SIR.

blorg

LadyLotts wrote:

They were totally random at Dublin last Sunday. I was travelling to Birmingham and had to take my laptop out of my bag before it went in the xray.

Everyone has to take their laptop out since time immemorial. I think the idea is that as they are complex pieces of electronics they want it flat on the belt with nothing else in the way so they can get a good view.

blorg

Going through Gatwick once with a McDonald's in a brown paper bag (didn't have any markings if I recall, strange.) Set off the metal detector (belt, probably) and was asked by an edgy security person "what is in the bag, sir?" Went to open it and he yells "Stop! Put the bag down!" Needless to say he was amused when he opened it himself.

Once bought a "magic box" in Paris as a Christmas present. This is a wooden box that you have to have to rotate in a certain pattern to get it to open. Of course it does this through a complex mechanism of gravity bolts in the lid which looked very interesting indeed when viewed on the x-ray machine. It was all wrapped up but at least I managed to explain what it was enough that they didn't make me unwrap it.

Another time leaving France I had purchased quite a quantity of Lindt (it is a lot cheaper in France ;-) and had this packed at the top of my bag. So with the foil this appeared on their machine as some sort of layered metal cube. They looked at me somewhat strangely when they opened the bag and pulled out 20 bars of chocolate. They were also very interested in a the contents of a wrapped cylinder of mini-jam jars...

holly_johnson

I'm a regular traveller to the States, and every time I go I get the shoe thing, both in Dublin, then New York and again in Orlando.
I don't mind this too much, I just feel sorry for the searchers, the smell of 100+ weary travellers feet can't be too pleasant.

The only time i had an objection was when my daughter was 1 and a half and we were going home through Boston. They did the usual search thingy then tried to take my daughter out of my arms. I said no (obviously) and they got really thick, shouting at me that I was to hand over the child. I said no way, why did you want me to and they wouldn't answer anything, just tried to take her. She was bawling at this stage. A female officer came over and was a bit better, saying they wanted to check her over. I said for what and she said bombs! I couldn't believe this I said she's only a baby etc.
In the end they ended up looking in her nappy! I went ballistic. How pervy is that! Pity she hadn't left a nice welcoming present for them

Needless to say I have never and will never travel via Boston again!

Attol

seansouth wrote:

That isn't random, that is the norm in all airports in the world as far as I know. I've seen it on signs in London, Dublin, Bangkok, HongKong, Sydney and Melbourne.

Oops, random part was meant for the shoe thing. They were only really taking off women's shoes and saying anyone with heels or buckles had to take off their shoes yet ignored all the men's shoes regardless of how covered in metal or how high a heel they had.

Birmingham is very big on the photography of all passengers as are Helsinki and Copenhagen.

rubadub

LadyLotts wrote:

They were only really taking off women's shoes and saying anyone with heels or buckles had to take off their shoes yet ignored all the men's shoes regardless of how covered in metal or how high a heel they had.

Guard had a foot fetish!

jonny68

Dublin Airport security is way over the top,this craic of having to take off your shoes is nonsense and it's no wonder there's so many delays:rolleyes: funny every other airport ive been to doesn't require you to take off your shoes and that includes likes of Heathrow and Schihol 2 of the busiest there are,sort it out Aer Rianta :rolleyes:

The_Conductor

Removing footwear is still common practice in a lot of airports, even if some of those considered of lesser security risk have stopped the practice. In airports I've been through in the last few weeks (Brussels, Zurich and a few others) with the exception of Heathrow and Lisbon, it was the norm (in Heathrow they made me remove medication from a prescription jar and place them on an examination tray so they could check I was not drug smuggling, and in Lisbon they argued with me about the amount of booze in my hand luggage......)

Swings and roundabouts.....

harney

I dont remeber having to take my laptop out of my bag the last few times I flew out of the UK or Spain.

I did make the mistake of placing an IPod on top of a PDA in the front pocket of my latop bag last time.

The look on the xray guys face was priceless as all this electronics went through the scanner. Became less priceless as he called over 2 or 3 more people to look at the scans. Was brought to one side and they opened the bag. Will remember to seperate my electronics next time.

blondie83

When I was coming back from Andorra a few months ago we went through Barcelona airport. Anyway after going through the scanner i got pulled aside and asked to open my bag. The Spanish guards went through it until they found my poker set, then pulled it out and put it through a special x-ray machine to have a good look at it! I figure it must have been the cylinders created by all the chips stacked on top of each other that made them suspicious