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Keep Your Shoes On, Please: TSA Rolling Out Speedy Security Pre-Screening Program
By Mary Beth Quirk on February 8, 2012 5:00 PM
58 Comments
Maybe you'll be taking your shoes off, but instead of placing them in a bin on a conveyor belt, you'll be sitting around at home on the computer before heading to the airport. A test program the Transportation Security Administration has been working on called the PreCheck, which will allow passengers to speed through security is now expanding to 28 more airports. More »
Thieving TSA Agent Serves As Reminder To Not Carry $5K In Your Coat
By Chris Morran on February 2, 2012 1:41 PM
77 Comments
See, this is why smugglers duct tape their contraband to their chest and groin — so that a rogue TSA agent doesn't simply swipe it from their coat as it goes through the security checkpoint. More »
TSA Employee Accused Of Lifting 8 iPads That Were Definitely Not His
By Mary Beth Quirk on February 1, 2012 3:00 PM
102 Comments
A Transportation Security Administration worker at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport stands accused of theft, after cops say he was found with eight iPads he'd boosted from checked luggage. Looting bags has become too popular of a pastime these days, but luckily one owner used his device's tracking system to locate the pilfered pad. More »
TSA Can't Tell The Difference Between A Gun & An Insulin Pump
By Chris Morran on January 27, 2012 4:15 PM
75 Comments
Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport this morning were held back from boarding this morning after the brain trust at the TSA security checkpoint not only managed to mistake a passenger's insulin pump for a gun, but also waited until after she'd passed through the checkpoint to think it might be a good idea to check out the mysterious item. More »
Woman Claims Husband's Ashes Went Missing After TSA Made Her Move Them To Checked Baggage
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 23, 2012 5:00 PM
58 Comments
A woman flying from Philadelphia to England to return her deceased husband's ashes to his hometown says US Airways lost them somewhere along the way to her destination. That is what is called a major, major fail. More »
(Rand Paul)
Ron Paul Says Senator Son Detained By TSA For Refusing Pat-Down
By Chris Morran on January 23, 2012 12:50 PM
115 Comments
Presidential candidate Ron Paul and his son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have been very vocal critics of the Transportation Security Administration. And it doesn't look like the two will be thinking any more highly of the TSA as, according to the elder Paul pol, Rand was detained by the TSA this morning after refusing to submit to a pat-down. More »
(DFW Airport)
Arrested Traveler Says She Shouldn't Be Held Responsible Because TSA Didn't Spot Her Handgun
By Chris Morran on January 20, 2012 1:15 PM
136 Comments
Over the years, a number of people have been stopped at airport security checkpoints for carrying weapons — guns, knives, box cutters, the occasional M-622 Avalanche — that the passenger claimed they had accidentally stowed in their carry-on bag. But who is responsible once that traveler gets through the checkpoint? More »
Airline Passengers Emptied Their Pockets & Left $400K Worth Of Change Behind In 2010
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 12, 2012 2:00 PM
33 Comments
Airport security areas are basically just one big change jar, as the Transportation Security Administration reports that passengers left behind around $400,000 in coins in 2010. Which means either we're forgetting our nickels and dimes or consciously choosing to ditch those pennies instead of filling our pockets back up. More »
The TSA Cupcake Lady Speaks: I'm Truly Sick Of Talking About Cupcakes
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 12, 2012 11:00 AM
105 Comments
While the "TSA Cupcake Lady" is sick of talking about cupcakes, she's also determined that the dessert in question not be woefully misrepresented by descriptions of it being "packed in icing." To that end, she was kind of enough to write in and explain her side of the story, in response to the TSA's recent blog reaction to the cake kerfuffle. More »
(TSA Blog)
TSA Proclaims That Once A Cupcake Is Inside A Jar, It's Not Okay To Carry On
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 11, 2012 10:00 AM
109 Comments
The Transportation Security Administration wants you to know that it takes "cupcakegate" very seriously, which is why they're reiterating why it was deemed not okay for a woman to take a cupcake through security in a jar, when carrying a regular, non-jarred up dessert with icing is fine. It's the level of frosting, you see, and the 3-1-1 rule. More »
TSA Agent Confiscates Cupcake On Grounds That Its Delicious Frosting Could Be Explosive
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 3, 2012 1:00 PM
88 Comments
We've known desserts to be so tasty they're downright dangerous, but one TSA agent in Las Vegas took that idea very literally, confiscating a cupcake for the possibility that its icing could be explosive. More »
TSA Agent Finds Pot In Rapper's Bag, Leaves Note Rather Than Confiscating It
By Chris Morran on December 16, 2011 12:15 PM
85 Comments
Remember that TSA agent who left a "get your freak on" note inside the bag of a woman who packed a vibrator — and was subsequently fired for doing so? Well it looks like that agent was not the only wannabe quipster among his security-screening kin. More »
Lawmakers Ask TSA To Place Passenger Advocates In Airports
By Chris Morran on December 12, 2011 12:15 PM
38 Comments
Considering all the negative press the Transportation Security Administration has received in recent years over its invasive airport security screening procedures, it couldn't hurt for the TSA to have staffers on hand whose job it is to consider the best interest of the passengers. More »
TSA Thinks Fake Gun On Your Handbag Is A Security Threat
By Chris Morran on December 2, 2011 3:15 PM
107 Comments
While gun replicas have been outlawed on planes since 2002, should that include miniature designs of pistols that are part of your handbag? This is the question that vexed a teenager who was stopped by TSA agents and told that her weaponized handbag was some sort of illegal security risk. More »
Anti-TSA Complaints At All-Time Low
By Chris Morran on November 18, 2011 3:30 PM
57 Comments
Even as there has been growing concern about full-body scanners and grope-y pat downs at airport security checkpoints, the actual number of complaints against the Transportation Security Administration hit an all-time low last month. More »
(strobist)
TSA Warns Passengers: Wrapped Gifts May Need To Be Unwrapped
By Chris Morran on November 14, 2011 5:00 PM
69 Comments
If you have to fly this holiday season and you were planning on wrapping any presents before you get on the plane, the folks at the TSA have issued their annual word of caution on the matter: They may need to unwrap those carefully packed gifts. More »
TSA Reportedly Firing Agent Who Wrote "Get Your Freak On" Note
By Phil Villarreal on October 28, 2011 9:15 AM
100 Comments
As we noted earlier this week, a Transportation Security Administration agent allegedly scrawled "Get your freak on girl" on an inspection note left with a woman's checked bag that contained a sex toy. More »
Pushing Your Way Onto A Plane Without A Ticket Is A Good Way To Get Arrested
By Chris Morran on October 27, 2011 10:15 AM
75 Comments
Usually when we write about the cops being called to an airplane, it involves a ticketed passenger being forcibly removed from the jet. But in a nice change of pace, here's the story of a man who allegedly thought he could just push his way onto a Southwest flight sans ticket. More »
TSA Finds Your Vibrator In Checked Suitcase, Leaves Creepy Note
By Laura Northrup on October 26, 2011 9:30 AM
114 Comments
Bad: Having the TSA pawing through your checked luggage. Worse: The suitcase they chose to open includes a sex toy. Worse still: the person who went through your bags leaves a leering note. Specifically, they scrawl "GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL" on the notice of inspection. More »
Loaded Gun Falls Out Of Checked Bag; TSA Says, Not Our Problem
By Mary Beth Quirk on October 24, 2011 9:15 AM
126 Comments
Hey, you know how you have to take your shoes off at the airport and it's really annoying? Isn't it more annoying that all those safeguards/hassles in place that are supposed to protect you still let a loaded gun slip come flying out of a bag? Yeah. That happened. More »
