There is a *MASSIVE* amount of outright theft from hold luggage as any frequent traveller will attest to. If it helps, I put the scanner through in the rucksack with the antenna detached and in a seperate pocket.
Works for me, the only time I ever had an issue was at Zurich when the spring in the antenna looked odd to the operator but he was happy when he saw it in context. The other time was at AMS who were very keen for me to switch it on to see if it really was a radio. Once I did, they were happy.