BAA security at LHR

[Air_Dream]

At the gate before boarding a flight, BAA (British Airport Authorities) have a random pax secondary security check. A pax was found to have a corkscrew in his hand luggage which was missed at the main central search area.

If this guy didn't have the secondary "random" check at the gate, he would have walked on to a flight with this very sharp corkscrew.

[HZ123]

So your point is. There are corkscrews on most a/c that the crew will use and realisticly like many other things the risk is minimal and no more thank a broken duty free bottle.

[Air_Dream]

well, whilst a PILOT was going through a control post, his sewing kit was confiscated off him. BAA stop tweezers going through security, shouldn't they either stop everything sharp or nothing at all?

[rodan]

Stop everything? Ok, full body cavity searches for everyone then.

Let's visit the real world for a second. They can't find everything. However, if they do find something sharp, then they should remove it in accordance with current regulations. As long as they stop the really dangerous stuff, which they have so far, I'm happy.

[maxy101]

Alternatively, we can also start searching pax as they board buses, trains and taxis. That way , the travelling public will be completely safe? Wont they?

[Pax Agent]

I flew from LHR to JFK last month and personally was quite surprised how lax they were with very basic checks.
I work at BOH and am personally quite proud of our security. The team do a really good job and I recently noticed them checking all thick soled boots.
I was wearing such a pair to JFK (I think part of me wanted to test them!!!) and I was not even asked to show them! We had some random checks at the boarding gate but to be honest the security going to the statue of liberty was MUCH stricter than any airport I have ever flown through! (The even x-rayed our watches and my brothers Polo's!!!! Hello, you can see through them!!!) Oh well.... C'est La Vie!

[Musket90]

Security measures at all BAA airports is in accordance with Government (DfT) directives and it is checked on a regular basis by Government Inspectors who monitor without giving notice. The airports need to ensure continued vigilance in Security as the Government can take appropriate action against the airport if they are not operating in accordance with their directives. Non-BAA airports I'm sure are no different.

[WHBM]

Well this really is a topic I would have thought more appropriate to the minor pages of The Daily Mirror on a slow news day rather than a pilots' forum whose members know a thing or two about relative risks. By definition secondary security are checking pax who have already ben checked. Do we need a thread here every time they find anything ...?

And what's so threatening about a corkscrew. Just about everybody owns one yet I have never heard of any incident from people misusing them at all, other than injuring yourself when opening the third bottle of the evening with friends !

Should we allow a professional wrestling team aboard ? After all, they might overpower all the crew.

[RUDAS]

the whole issue of airport security makes me so mad.

it is unbelievable to think an airport would confiscate a sewing kit! i would imagine one could do more damage with a carrot!

What really gets me are the inconsistencies.i saw a few weeks ago that a Sky News reporter bought an eight inch hunting knife airside at LSGG and proceeded through security with it at both gva and on arrival in the UK,and it was never picked up at all.This level of security is then compared to the absolute paranoia we see in some parts where even nail files and pins are confiscated,and where umbrellas are being banned!

I dont have any solutions,as i strongly believe in safety first,but i also get really,really mad when i hear the kinds of things people are having confiscated from them. as for random checks,i reckon they achieve very little.

when we reduce the process down to a 'every second pax gets searched' method,then we're just going through the motions in my humble opinion.everyone should be thoroughly checked,but with a clear view to actual safety,not paranoia or some bizarre sense of there being danger in every item brought aboard.

think about it,you have amongst your pax a group of black belt kung fu experts-who without any weapons are deadly,what are you going to do,tie their arms behind their backs because they may be a security danger?

we've got to get real-standardise our security,make it sensible and consistent.

ps as for there being corkscrews on board,they are mostly fixed to the galley and work with a lever motion,so they arent dangerous...more dangerous would be a person with a broken bottle,but are we going to start banning glass on board?:uhoh:

[Air_Dream]

hmmm... whats more stupid was that it was a *PILOT* of the flight who had his sewing kit taken off him... don't they use plastic bottles on board now for alcohol?