Airport Security

Julesie · 13-04-2007 03:20PM #1

:mad: I consider myself to be a fairly laid back kinda gal...it usually takes a lot to make me angry and yet consistently i find myself enraged by a group of people so mind bogglingly frustrating that it causes me to question my own character.

I work in the UK Mon - Fri and therefore have the unenviable pleasure of passing through the airport twice weekly. It honestly seems that each and every time i travel a new rule has been invoked that is determined to make the life of a traveller as painful as possible.

Now, I am as concerned about air safety as the next person but for the life of me i fail to see the logic in many of the so called precautions currently in place. Take for instance the current liquid restiction of no more than 1 litre that can be comprised of containers of no more than 100ml. Although i think the whole thing was a slightly knee jerk reaction to an isolated security incident, I can limit myself to 1 litre of liquids on a flight. However i just cannot fathom the 100ml container rule. Surely if a 200ml container of something is potentially dangerous then the same applies to 2x100ml bottles of the same substance.

It seems though that every airport has its own flavour of the rule, for instance I am typing this post as i wait for my flight home from Liverpool airport, having just had my one item on liquid confiscated. The item in question was a 75ml jar of hair texturing gum...my crime...i had failed to provide my own plastic bag and under absolutely no circumstances could it be allowed to pass through the screening machine without it. Like i said i am a frequent traveller and yet i had never come across this particular gem before.

I regularly fly out of Manchester airport and they too have their own little foibles such as a very strict one piece of hand luggage policy which wilfully neglects to consider the size of the items involved. Fair enough you may say, limited on board cabin space means they have to set the limit somewhere but that doesnt seem to be the logic been employed. If i can stuff the secondary bag inside the first by any means possible just for going through screening then apparently i have satisfied the rule, I am free to carry as many bags as i could possible want as long as i have gone through the sacred machines. This is particulary frustrating if you are trying to keep items seperate or if it just isnt feasible to stick one bag inside the other despite the fact that you may be well under the carry on weight allowance and the items are not bulky. Most airports have a bit of leniency in this respect but you can never tell if you have picked the power tripper hell bent on making your day a misery until it is too late.

Is it really too much to ask that the rules we are forced to obey are logical and consistent and those administering them maintain a minimum level of customer service and decency?

subway · 13-04-2007 03:28PM

i had one on tuesday,
going through heathrow i had a laptop bag and a carrier bag with a couple of small items.
i got stopped for the 1 bag in the machine rule and was told to go away and come back with one bag.
as it was a latop bag there isnt much room so i ended up that i couldnt get the few souvenirs i had purchased into it.

what i did in the end was put the empty carrier bag into the laptop bag.
i was then allowed through the machine carrting my souvenurs.
once through i took the plastic bag out of the laptop bag and put my stuff into it.

this was perfectly acceptable for some reason...

in dublin some howya security guard was shouting at a foreign woman to take her baby out of the buggy.
when the poor woman eventually realised she was being told to take her asleep baby out of the buggy she did so.
then holding the baby in one arm and her bags in the other the security woman started shouting at her to fold the buggy up and lift it on to the conveyor.
the stupid auldone also wouldnt let anyone help the lady.
all she did was keep shouting "fol' de ting down willya!!!!"

pathetic people on a power trip.
cant remember the word for them, but some of there sure have a chip on there shoulders

RuggieBear · 13-04-2007 03:37PM

"jobsworth" might be the word you are looking for.

travel a good bit to and from Liverpool airport and find them to be quite strict on their "interpretations" of the security rules.

Once i had to put my small backpack thru excess baggage as it had straps on it..lol:rolleyes:

Fajitas! · 13-04-2007 03:38PM

Most likely going to get flamed for this, but a lot of the laws are complete BS. If someone wants to blow up a plane, take over a plane, whatever, it can still be done. Very few of the precautions are going to work if someone is determined. At the most, they might make the public feel safe.

Airport guards are some of most annoying, persistant **** ever. Coming back from France at Christmas with a mate, who had bought some ceramic cherub with a trumpet, was told that it could be used as a weapon. When he asked how, the guard broke the trumpet off, made a stabbing motion and threw the trumpet in the bin...giving him back the best of it.

subway · 13-04-2007 03:39PM

jobsworth is the one

i think there all insane, or make bets with each other as to who can piss off the general pop. the most in one day.

im convinced that theyre all suffering a deep form of depression from watching people fly away all day every day.

Ruu_Old · 13-04-2007 03:41PM

Count yourself lucky that you aren't travelling transatlantic routes all the time. The TSA look at you like you are something they picked off the bottom of their shoe.

Naked Lepper · 13-04-2007 03:43PM

i used to work for ICTS (international consultants of transport security) at DUB and let me tell you that 99% of people in ICTS and on the security desks in that place are a breed of their own! Thats all I will say on that one!!

_blank_ · 13-04-2007 03:43PM

subway wrote:

pathetic people on a power trip.
cant remember the word for them, but some of there sure have a chip on there shoulders

Arseholes.

marco murphy · 13-04-2007 03:46PM

When he asked how, the guard broke the trumpet off, made a stabbing motion and threw the trumpet in the bin...giving him back the best of it

lmao, bad i know but lol

I've been through the airport about 4 or 6 times last year, and they seem to pick and choose when they want you to take your shoes off.

ellenmelon · 13-04-2007 03:46PM

i feel your pain. sometime i just felt like kicking things whilst going through security.
to be completely honest, irish security is the worst ive experienced. and ive been through the states,france (who are psycho on security!), italy and also the toughest airport in aussie, perth, because they have a lot of illegal immigrants attempting to get into australia especially from asia and perth is the main airport on that side of aussie. they were all really sound guys and helpful too..like i had a box of barrys tea for my dad and i wondered would i have to go through the "items to declare" queue and when i asked him he said, honest to god, "let me have a quick look..nah, you'll be right"! lol so funny.
the irish security are either strict as heck or just dont give a toss..and its so unpredictable in my opinion. i have a porcelain bracelet which would always get fúcking xrayed for some reason..even when i said what it was. and i was aaalways given a pat down cause i beep like no ones business going through the scanner..its a bloody underwire of my bra you EEJITS and i get treated like a crim.

aaargh sorry OP, totally off topic.

robinph · 13-04-2007 03:47PM

What has the size of a carry on bag got to do with any airport security either? The size, and number, of bags taken as carry on is between me and the airline. It should only be up to each airline to determine the size of bag they will allow on their plane, the purpose of security is to check that there are no dangerous items within that bag but the size is irrelavent.

Mrs_Doyle · 13-04-2007 03:47PM

I have never had any bad experiences with Irish Airport security, but Bulgarian airport security - they are very scary! :eek:

I went to Bulgaria in 2005, on the way home, after checking in, and hanging about the airport for a while, a bit of a commotion broke out.

So being the nosy bastards that we are, me and my boyfriend went to go see what was happening.

We saw two kids, aged about 15, being pushed outside the departures area, and shoved towards the plane.
The security guys had guns and they were all shouting in Bulgarian.
The kids parents were going absolutely mental, but weren't allowed out to their kids, they had to stay in departures, and two armed guards blocked them from going anywhere.

When the kids reached the plane they were asked to open their suitcases, which were on the ground.

It turned out that they had bought some samurai swords, and packed them away in their luggage.

The thing is, even though it was a pretty silly thing to do, had they wanted to use the swords as weapons, whilst on the plane, they wouldn't have been able to.
Their suitcases would have been stored below deck, way out of reach of any passenger.

Auldloon · 13-04-2007 04:05PM

Scariest moment in airport was walking under a huge banner in Riyadh in Saudi sayingDEATH TO DRUG TRAFFICERS Me wondering had i definitely treble checked every little pocket in my bags for any random joints etc:eek:. As a frequent traveller i find the best way is take the bare minimum through security saves time and frustration for everyone.

ellenmelon · 13-04-2007 04:09PM

Chuileog wrote:

Scariest moment in airport was walking under a huge banner in Riyadh in Saudi sayingDEATH TO DRUG TRAFFICERS Me wondering had i definitely treble checked every little pocket in my bags for any random joints etc:eek:. As a frequent traveller i find the best way is take the bare minimum through security saves time and frustration for everyone.

same in malaysia..as you're landing and at security. i was like WTF?! even though i wasnt carrying anything..

Miguel_Sanchez · 13-04-2007 04:13PM

Years ago (pre 9/11) I was going through London with a girl on holidays. The girl's one bag was checked for 15 minutes because the security guard was convinced that 'something sharp' had shown up on the X-Ray. When I tried to think what it could be and asked what it had looked like all she would reply was it was 'something sharp'. There was clearly nothing of any danger in the bag and we were eventually sent on our way. We nearly missed the flight cause of the stupid bint.

Then on the way back from the holiday through London I inadvertantly boarded the plane with a knife in my hand luggage. That's something feckin' sharp and the eejits didn't spot it at all in the X-Ray.

Stark · 13-04-2007 04:18PM

Julesie wrote:

I regularly fly out of Manchester airport and they too have their own little foibles such as a very strict one piece of hand luggage policy which wilfully neglects to consider the size of the items involved. Fair enough you may say, limited on board cabin space means they have to set the limit somewhere but that doesnt seem to be the logic been employed. If i can stuff the secondary bag inside the first by any means possible just for going through screening then apparently i have satisfied the rule, I am free to carry as many bags as i could possible want as long as i have gone through the sacred machines. This is particulary frustrating if you are trying to keep items seperate or if it just isnt feasible to stick one bag inside the other despite the fact that you may be well under the carry on weight allowance and the items are not bulky.?

And when you get on the plane, there's someone trying to stuff a giant suitcase into the overhead compartment. Grrr.

robinph · 13-04-2007 04:22PM

Stark wrote:

And when you get on the plane, there's someone trying to stuff a giant suitcase into the overhead compartment. Grrr.

But that is due to the people on the checkin desk not having done their jobs properly and has no effect on the "security" of the plane.

exCrumlinBoyo · 13-04-2007 04:25PM

I was home from Florida in Dublin for most of the month of March. Flew Florida to Atlanta, then on to Gatwick then on to Dublin.

Gatwick is the worst airport I have ever been in and I have been in many all over the world. My wife and I had both our children with us (1 year old and 4 year old). We had medicines, baby bottles ect all prepared in the bags they suggested you use ect. We realty prepared and had no problems leaving the states at all until we got to Gatwick. We had to stand in line for two hours to get through firstly. As I said we prepared the bags as they needed and they still questioned everything we have from the medicine to the baby’s milk. We had to taste all the milk and all of the medicines. I found it to be distressing and very stressful for us and for out kids.

On the way back, Flying Dublin to Gatwick the prick on the plane when we landed in Gatwick would not give us back our Pram for the 1 year old. I had an argument with him on the runway leading to the bus. He gave back everyone else buy ours. This meant instead of going straight onto International transfers we had to make our way to baggage claim NOT to find out pram there and go through security once again. This time, the took our babies concentrated milk away from us and left us with any formula for our baby. I was pissed big time since we came in with the same formula and decided to take away from us. So we had to carry our baby since they lost the pram and she was also thirsty since they removed the food. Totally going way above and beyond what they need to do to keep things going….

If you can avoid never go through Gatwick Airport. A bunch of misinformed, unprofessional, rude pricks that work in that airport.

zuutroy · 13-04-2007 04:30PM

Its a load of balls. I've travelled with a diabetic many times who had plenty of sharps in their bag and enough insulin to incapacitate someone in 10 mins no problem. Never once was any question raised or were they even noticed. As someone else said...If people want to blow up/hi-jack a plane, they'll do it.

robinph · 13-04-2007 04:40PM

zuutroy wrote:

Its a load of balls. I've travelled with a diabetic many times who had plenty of sharps in their bag and enough insulin to incapacitate someone in 10 mins no problem. Never once was any question raised or were they even noticed. As someone else said...If people want to blow up/hi-jack a plane, they'll do it.

The only time that my diabetic kit has been noticed in my bag was when they didn't like the look of the empty water bottle that I had in there as well so ended up searching through it manually, and I still had to actually tell them that there was needles in there as they still didn't notice them and I was feeling helpful at the time for some reason. The sharps have never shown up on the scanners.

zuutroy · 13-04-2007 04:49PM

robinph wrote:

The only time that my diabetic kit has been noticed in my bag was when they didn't like the look of the empty water bottle that I had in there as well so ended up searching through it manually, and I still had to actually tell them that there was needles in there as they still didn't notice them and I was feeling helpful at the time for some reason. The sharps have never shown up on the scanners.

I wonder how much Osama and the boys will pay for this info....

blah · 13-04-2007 05:03PM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/

This link here is a good article outlining the feasability of causing an explosion on a plane using a combination of liquids. I find it so frustrating going through security, knowing how unlikely it is that any amount of liquids could be a threat.

Of course, all of these restrictions only come in after someone tries or succeeds with an airline attack. E.g. sharp objects (after 9-11), x-ray your shoes (after the "shoe bomber"), no liquids (after those guys kind of got months away from implementing a ridiculous plan that couldn't have worked). So if there is another attack (or conspiracy to attack) using an explosive white powder, or all the flight crew are strangled with belts, or the terrorists fart everyone to death, only then will checks to make sure we're not carrying powder, belts and beans.

Eventually we'll be all tranported around naked in cages "for our own safety" and what terrorist would want to distrupt that?

I hate airport security measures.

sonners · 13-04-2007 05:06PM

I have been through numerous ariports with an adrenalin pen and it has never even been noticed. If used incorrectly it can be fatal and could definitely incapacitate someone. Funnily enough every time I travel with my sister she gets harassed for something stupid in her bag (security in Cyprus thought her sunglasses were a knife!). While I've never even been double checked. Quite ridiculous really.

robinph · 13-04-2007 05:11PM

Airport security is more to do with scaring the population into thinking that bad guys are out to destroy us all and that the powers that be are doing something about it. It is not designed in anyway to make travelling on aeroplanes any safer though.

Voodu Child · 13-04-2007 05:45PM

If someone wants to blow up a plane they will - i'd say most people here could probably think of a way to hijack a plane tomorrow if they wanted, using an oul biro or a bit of string.

The fact that it doesn't happen much is less to do with airline safety, and more to do with the fact that there's not as many murderous nuts out there as the authorites would have us believe.

Feral Mutant · 13-04-2007 06:54PM

Just be grateful they're so leniant now. You know how you have to take off your shoes because someone hid explosives in them? It's only a matter of time before terrorists resort to more drastic hiding places, then it'll be body cavity searches for all.

Red Alert · 13-04-2007 10:18PM

To be honest, you'd want to be pretty pathetic to take a job like that. I have always found the other EU (and american) countries staff much more professional - they do their job and in most cases are courteous. A lot of the irish ones (particularly the women, who seem to have a major chip) seem to take the job to prove something.

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 13-04-2007 10:29PM

Mrs_Doyle wrote:

It turned out that they had bought some samurai swords, and packed them away in their luggage.

I brought several samurai swords back from Bulgaria without a problem.

It's 100% legal as far as I know provided they are in checked in luggage.

They must have been unlucky with the police there, or else the police were just looking for a few bob to keep things quiet.

Ruen · 13-04-2007 11:09PM

zuutroy wrote:

Its a load of balls. I've travelled with a diabetic many times who had plenty of sharps in their bag and enough insulin to incapacitate someone in 10 mins no problem. Never once was any question raised or were they even noticed. As someone else said...If people want to blow up/hi-jack a plane, they'll do it.

Nobody would hijack a plane with a needle! I suppose you might incapacitate someone in 10 mins but by the time 10 mins comes around everyone would know about it. How do you know if they were noticed or not? I'm sure the security people dont consult you when they notice something or go shouting it all over the airport.

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 13-04-2007 11:17PM

Ruen wrote:

Nobody would hijack a plane with a needle! I suppose you might incapacitate someone in 10 mins but by the time 10 mins comes around everyone would know about it. How do you know if they were noticed or not? I'm sure the security people dont consult you when they notice something or go shouting it all over the airport.

Yea but hold a needle to someone's throat and say you've got HIV and see if they do what you say.

Ruen · 13-04-2007 11:18PM

robinph wrote:

Airport security is more to do with scaring the population into thinking that bad guys are out to destroy us all and that the powers that be are doing something about it. It is not designed in anyway to make travelling on aeroplanes any safer though.

Ehh wha??? You know what scares me into thinking bad guys are out to destroy us is when I see pictures of two planes flying into the WTC on 11/9/01, not "airport security that is only for political reasons":rolleyes:

Airport Security

Comments