Thursday, January 5, 2012

TSA Top 10 Good Catches of 2011

Our officers have had some good finds this year at our checkpoints and we wanted to share our top 10 good catches with you. Some are dangerous, some simply look dangerous and can cause major delays, and others are just plain weird. Click on the links to read more about each good catch.

Top 10:

10) Snakes, turtles, and birds were found at Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX). I’m just happy there weren’t any lions, tigers, and bears…
9) A science project shut down a checkpoint at Omaha (OMA). I wonder if mentioning the shutting down of the checkpoint added enough flare to his presentation to score him some bonus points?
8) An artfully concealed non-metallic martial arts weapon called a “Tactical Spike” was found in the sock of a passenger at Pensacola (PNS) after being screened by a body scanner. The only thing I keep in my sock is my foot.
7) Inert landmines were found at Salt Lake City (SLC). I always travel with mine, don’t you???
6) A stun gun disguised as a smart phone was found at Los Angeles (LAX). Not very smart to travel with this stunning device.
5) A flare gun with seven flares was found in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Norfolk (ORF). Hmmm… pressurized cabin + 7 live flares = no good can come from this.
4) Two throwing knives  concealed in hollowed out book were found at Washington National (DCA). Killer book…
3) Over 1,200 firearms were discovered at TSA checkpoints across the nation in 2011. Many guns are found loaded with rounds in the chamber. Most passengers simply state they forgot they had a gun in their bag.
2) A loaded .380 pistol  was found strapped to passenger’s ankle with the body scanner at Detroit (DTW). You guessed it, he forgot it was there…
1) Small chunks of C4 explosives were found in passenger’s checked luggage in Yuma (YUM). Believe it or not, he was brining it home to show his family.

If you’re interested in reading about more finds such as these, be sure to read our weekly “TSA Week In Review” blog posts, posted every Friday. 
Honorable mentions:
13) Invisible Space Aliens were detected at numerous checkpoints nationwide.
12) Five inert grenades  were found in passenger’s bag at Newark (EWR).
11) 240 live fish were found swimming in 4 checked bags at Los Angeles (LAX).
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

TSA Pre✓™ Pilot Expanding To Two More Airports

As promised, TSA is moving forward with the TSA Pre✓™ pilot, and what better way to kick off 2012 than with the addition of two more airports – Salt Lake City (SLC) and John F. Kennedy (JFK) – to the program.

There are a lot of moving pieces, so here’s a quick look at next steps for the pilot in the coming months:

Early 2012
United Airlines and US Airways will begin offering the program to their eligible frequent flyers
Minneapolis and SLC will offer the program to pilot participants traveling on Delta
Los Angeles and JFK will also come on board for participants traveling on American
Stay tuned! US Airways and United recently began notifying their eligible frequent fliers, and TSA will announce more details on start dates and locations at new airports as soon as we have them.  TSA also plans to build on the pilot’s initial success and continue expanding the program to additional airlines and airports once they are operationally ready.

We’ve received positive feedback from the overwhelming majority of the nearly 200,000 passengers who have been screened through TSA Pre✓™ since the pilot rolled out. TSA continues to gather encouraging feedback from those who have experienced the program at the participating airports [Atlanta (ATL), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Miami (MIA) and Las Vegas McCarran (LAS) airports].
If you want to learn how to sign up for TSA Pre✓™, click here.
For those who might not be familiar with TSA Pre✓™, there’s lots of info on our blog and on TSA.gov.
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Friday, December 30, 2011

TSA Week In Review: Non Metallic Martial Arts Weapon Found with Body Scanner







An artfully concealed non-metallic martial arts weapon called a “Tactical Spike” was found in the sock of a passenger at Pensacola (PNS) after being screened by a body scanner.

In one carry-on bag at Wichita (ICT), TSA Officers discovered a tree saw with a 13-inch blade, a pocketknife with a 3-inch blade, two throwing knives with 8-inch blades, eleven individual 30-06 rifle rounds, one 12-gauge shotgun slug, five count of buckshot, and five boxes, each containing 25 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun shells and a partridge in a pear tree.

In two separate incidents at Los Angeles (LAX) and San Diego (SAN), two sets of three throwing knives were found in carry-on bags.

A total of three inert grenades were found in checked baggage at Salt Lake City (SLT) and Tucson (TUS). They were gifts…

In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also found stun guns, a realistic replica firearm, brass knuckles, a butterfly knife, a gravity assist knife, a collapsible baton, ammunition, firearm components, daggers, throwing knives, a brass knuckle knife, a switchblade, a torch lighter containing a spring loaded knife, a butcher knife, a throwing star, and a cat eye.










On the other hand, there are artfully concealed items...  Artfully concealed means that the prohibited item was intentionally concealed with the intention of sneaking it through security:

- A 14” cane sword was discovered at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW).
- A 3” double edged knife was found concealed as a belt buckle at Los Angeles (LAX).
Our officers found 10 loaded firearms and 3 unloaded firearms in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday. Here’s a rundown of the 13 firearms our officers kept off of airplanes this week: 

12/24: PNS – Loaded .380 w/ round in chamber – LIT – Unloaded .22 – MIA – Loaded 9mm
12/25: ATL – Loaded .32
12/26: SBN – Loaded .380
12/27: DEN – Loaded .380 w/ round in chamber
12/28: GEG – Unloaded 9mm – DFW – Loaded .32 w/ round in chamber – MCI – Loaded 9mm w/ 22 rounds and a round in chamber – DFW – Loaded .22
12/29: DEN – Unloaded .22 – IAH – Loaded .22 – IND – Loaded .32 – DFW – Loaded .380 w/ round in chamber
You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. We also look for explosives and bomb components as well, but thankfully those are extremely rare and we're happy to keep it that way. 

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items in their bag. That’s why it’s important to double check your luggage before you get to the airport. 
Including checkpoint and checked baggage screening, TSA has 20 layers of security both visible and invisible to the public. Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a much stronger, formidable system. A terrorist who has to overcome multiple security layers in order to carry out an attack is more likely to be pre-empted, deterred, or to fail during the attempt. 
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Happy Holidays From TSA

From all of us at TSA, Happy Holidays and have a wonderful new year! Please enjoy this video from the TSALos Angeles (LAX) Choir.














If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Friday, December 23, 2011

TSA Week In Review: Holy Flare Guns, Batman!

Holy Prohibited Items List Batman, why didn’t you put this in your checked baggage with your grappling gun? This knife was found  at San Antonio (SAT).
A FLARE GUN with SEVEN FLARES was found in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Norfolk (ORF). Haven’t they listened to the lyrics of Smoke On The Water? Strangely enough, another flare gun was found in a passenger’s carry-on bag later in the week at Knoxville (TYS).
2 MK-19 inert grenades were found in a carry-on bag at Manchester (MHT). The passenger stated they were “stocking stuffers.” More inert grenades were found at Kansas City (MCI), Montgomery (MGM), and Savannah (SAV). Read here and here why even inert grenades at the airport are a problem even though they can’t explode.
A passenger at Phoenix (PHX) noticed their laptop was missing and reported it to TSA supervisor. The supervisor reviewed the CCTV video footage and identified the passenger who took it. After reporting it to airport police, the passenger was arrested and the laptop was returned to its rightful owner.
In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our officers also found stun guns, throwing stars, realistic replica firearms, firearm components, butterfly knives, switchblades, an asp, an expandable baton, brass knuckles, ammunition a 6 ½” combat knife, a 7” butcher knife, cat eyes, and various other knives of different lengths larger than 3”.
Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home.

Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items in their bag. That’s why it’s important to double check your luggage before you get to the airport. 
On the other hand, there are artfully concealed items...  Artfully concealed means that the prohibited item was intentionally concealed with the intention of sneaking it through security:
A 4” knife was found concealed in a walking cane at San Diego (SAN). The passenger was extremely shocked it was there!
A box cutter was found hidden in the lining of a passenger’s bag at Miami (MIA)
A .380 magazine with six rounds was found concealed in the lining of a passenger’s carry-on bag at Gulfport (GPT). If they read my blog posts, they would know that the lining of the bag is not X-ray proof.
A 15” sword cane was discovered at Northwest Florida Beaches (VPS) again… The passenger was shocked.
We posted on this one earlier in the week, but two 6 1/2” throwing knives were found in a hollowed out book at Washington National (DCA).
A knife was found taped to the bottom of the handle of a passenger’s carry-on bag at Indianapolis (IND).
A small knife was found concealed an empty CD Rom drive at Peoria (PIA).
Our officers found 21 loaded firearms and 5 unloaded firearms in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday. Here’s a rundown of the 26 firearms our officers kept off of airplanes this week: 
  • 12/16: SDF – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered – RSW – Unloaded .380 – MCO – Unloaded .25
  • 12/17: DTW – Loaded .40
  • 12/18: CMH – Loaded .357 – JAX – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered – COS – Unloaded .40 – DFW – Loaded .380 – ATL – Loaded .38
  • 12/19: MCO – Loaded pistol w/ Round Chambered
  • 12/20: TUL – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered – SEA – Unloaded .22 – PDX – Loaded .32 – RSW – Loaded .380 – DFW – Loaded .380 w/Round Chambered
  • 12/21: PHL – Loaded .25 w/ Round Chambered – TYS – Loaded 9mm – ATL – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered – AUS – Loaded 9mm – SAT – Unloaded .380
  • 12/22: ELP – Loaded .32 – AUS – Loaded .357 – RSW – Loaded .380 – FLL – Loaded 9mm w/ Round Chambered – LIT – Loaded .380 – IAH – Loaded .40 w/ Round Chambered
You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. 

We also look for explosives and bomb components as well, but thankfully those are extremely rare and we're happy to keep it that way.

 Including checkpoint and checked baggage screening, TSA has 20 layers of security both visible and invisible to the public. Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a much stronger, formidable system. A terrorist who has to overcome multiple security layers in order to carry out an attack is more likely to be pre-empted, deterred, or to fail during the attempt. 
 
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.