Stanstead Screening Nazis

[Flyray]

Do the liquid limitations at this airport apply to operating crews. I was told by my handler that he would pick me up at the Enterprise building near the terminal. As I approached the screening area, it was like a pack of wolfs on me. These guys don't get much bussiness and were bored. A screener with grubby little hands and no gloves started digging through my toiletry items pulling out lip balm, and small liquid items and digging through my bags for 20 miniutes. Then he was sniffing the bag with his machine over and over.
Finally a supervisor was called, and he conviced me to say my roller board bag would be in the "hold" of the aircraft. I was not treated like a 747 Captain. I was treated like a terrorist suspect. My FO had a bag with large cans of shaving cream that was never opened. What kind of idiots are these people? Is this liquid limitation for pilots true at all UK airports? Help:uhoh:

[FirstStep]

It appears security got it right with you.
Lip balm…..very suspicious. What kind of Captain uses Lip Balm?.
You probably had ALL kinds of contraband. Over 3oz liquid deodorant. Sure it's solid, you say. But what happens when it gets heated?. Liquid!. Banned, confiscated, and the world is a safer place.
It appears your FO know how to "tow" the line. Take his lead next time.

In all seriousness, I had the same thing happen the other day. My "plastic" baggie was WAY too filled. As a matter of fact, that and my WHOLE flight bag were relegated to the lower hold due to all kinds of dangerous stuff.
:-)

Same out of Manston. I walked through the metal detector with my cheaters on. Didn't set it off….but…..they had to ( my cheaters now ) be put through the X-ray machine. Seriously. Glad the button on my pants was small enough.

By the way…welcome to the rumor mill.

[Evanelpus]

Don't worry Flyray.

I have contacted my friends at Stansted and they promise not to search your possesions next time but will be waiting for you with some vaseline and a pair of rubber gloves.:ok:

[Best foot forward]

"What kind of idiots are these people" these are the kind of idiots that keep us safe from the perils of terrorism, god help us all.

[172_driver]

A word of advice for next time, bring your lunch box in a frozen state. It gives you the benefit of doubt whether the sauce qualifies as liquid or not :D

It did indeed happen at STN, a flying colleauge was robbed off his lasagne for busting the 100 ml rule :ugh:

[bugged on the right]

I have been through Stansted as crew and pax and it is thoroughly unpleasant. My other half found out first hand why I hate going through there on a recent holiday to Spain. She had already booked it before I got a word in. It isn't the operatives' fault. It is the government minister's fault that they behave as they do. He is not going to back off the drama in case somebody gets through with a container of water and it makes the press. What I find intriguing though is the cavalier way that the confiscated items are treated. Now this stuff is either completely safe or it is suspect. So why is it carelessly thrown into a big bin if it is suspect? I wouldn't have thought this was an approved way of handling potential explosives.
With the above exception, I've always taken the Eurostar to Paris, Amsterdam and recently, Frankfurt to fly long haul. It is all over a lot cheaper than the UK's airports and the war on terror is at least polite.

[onehotflyer]

Im sure its the Ryanair influence on the whole of stansted. Lowering the tone of everything. tonnes of little hilters. Grin and bare it Im afraid.

[A and C]

While not wanting to get into a discussion about the merits ( or lack of) of UK security screening because the way it is done is variable however, STN, BHX & MAN seem to have a talent for unpleasant, aggressive and stupid behavior. They don't have exclusivity with these attributes but are the market leaders in obnoxious behavior.

[750XL]

Or just get over yourselves and stick to the rules, and you won't have any problems :rolleyes:

[A and C]

I wish it were that simple, the UK regulations are very prescriptive but in my experience the airports I mentioned above seem to invent there own rules.

We had problems at STN, having contacted the head of security to clarify the situation and him attaching a copy of the rules to the desk at the screening point but the same problem reoccurred on an almost daily basis. Even when we pointed to the rules the attached to the desk at the security point the screeners seemed unwilling or unable to read and understand the rules.

In my view it is not the rules that need changing but the culture if aggressive behavior of the screening staff.

To say that if you stay within the rules is simply fails to understand the situation.

[Piltdown Man]

The typically unpleasant, half-witted moron who works for airport 'security' in the UK and the protocols they their like follow, demonstrate an obscure attitude towards our safety. They treat all who would question their efforts, as well as those who don't, with rudeness and contempt and add ZERO to our national security. Until the rules they are meant to follow change, expect to be badly treated whenever you pass them by. Personally I don't speak with them and will never help them, ever. They don't deserve any they are only behaving like some other guards "who were only following orders."

And no, liquid are not permitted to be carried by flight crew boarding in the UK. You might do something atrocious with it; like pour it over the explosives, ammunition, detonators, NBC material etc, that are carried in freighters. Or worse. And then, there's the huge, great, gaping hole in UK security...

The solution? There is none. I'm afraid that in the UK in some areas we are beyond redemption. Only by removing an entire generation of bungling bureaucrats and town council type clowns will we stand a chance of reforming our country. Our current security procedures are an example of the rot that has set in.

PM

[A and C]

You are indeed correct about the sorce of the problem but not the intended result.

UK airport security has been 100% successful in its intended result! it has protected the (self perceived) political elite from the media, it has enabled them to be seen to be acting robustly on terrorism while also having the side effect of keeping an army of low pay workers in employment...... The real bonus is that it is the airline industry that is paying to shield them from the problem.

The root of the problem is that we no longer have any political leaders who have any experience outside the Westminster bubble and are unable to see any anything in terms outside this bubble. I can see no way that we can solve this problem without a major political unheaval.......... May be UKIP will provide this in May, but I won't be holding my breath.

[PW2040]

I can easily followed all thoughts.

My company often pass through two airports in the UK.

BFS screening near the Cargo ramp is friendly and always helpful , they have a really nice attitude towards the flying personel regarding everything also liquids.:D

EDI screening on the cargo side of the airport is real screening N.... , they interprete the rules on their own, unfriendly and really really bad behaviour, my company has approached them but with no difference in attitude.
Furthermore the liquid rules are fully enforced towards crew or should I say especially towards crew, most of us feel harrashed.:mad::ugh::ugh::mad:

I remember EMA screening on the cargo ramp to be pretty bad also.

Are the rules not the same all over the UK and why are some airports allowed to interprete rules on their own, at least BFS has a history so they should maybe be the worst but they are not.

Regards,
A happy cargo pilot

[cockney steve]

Unfortunately for the airlines, we, the Pax, do have a choice.

My first- ever (2007) (yes! at my age!) foreign flight to Limoges was turned into an endurance test,by this cretinous "security" charade.
I haven't flown commercially since and I'm not alone.

Maybe the airlines will wake up before it's too late. Make it more inconvenient to use their service, and guess what?....the less-inconvenient service gets the business and the profits.
Backsides need to be kicked and a realistic screening protocol enforced by a fit-for-purpose regime.
Until then, these arrogant, self-important,bullying numpties will continue to undermine the commercial enterprise that feeds them.

Air transport is a convenience, not a necessity and those in power would do well to remember that.

[NutLoose]

When they take the drivers bottle of water out of the cab of his tanker with 3000 odd litres of Jet A behind him, as they have, it makes you wonder.

[Best foot forward]

I was strip searched at Luton one day when the metal clip on my trousers set of a little beep on the hand held metal detector. Yet I can go through screening in the US set of the walk through metal detector and all they want to see is your ankles. Haven't been through Stanstead, but Heathrow are similar, it is just a horrible experience to go through before you start your days work. One day you can go through without any hassles and the next its the spanish inquisition.

[air pig]

Know of an aeromedical team who were at a different airport threatened with the confiscation of their bags of intravenous fluids, they were told if anything happened to the patient they and their managers would be having a chat to the Coroner. Soon backed off, did not see all the needles scalpels, controlled drugs and had no idea what they were looking for in terms of the equipment.

[Metro man]

Some of these security people failed the intelligence and social skills test for the wheel clamp unit and ended up at the airport.

[172_driver]

Another brilliant one, also from STN. Reporting for duty a colleague with an airside ID from a different airport was initially refused passage. This airport's ID had recently been redesigned and now they couldn't recognize it anymore. Their little binder of acceptable ID cards had not been updated. 45 min later I met the guy airside, not sure how he convinced GESTAPO.

[Flyray]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I see I am not the only one who has been sodomized by UK security. From your responses, I understand that the liquid limitations do NOT apply to pilots, but that individual units can just interpret the rules anyway they see fit. Is this true? If so, how can there be no standardization?

By the way, I will have my lip balm handy next time to apply to my anus when I have to face these idiots again.

[172_driver]

Without any reference I was under the impression all European states have waived the 100 ml restriction for pilots except UK. Perhaps some smaller units see through the fingers, someone hinted BFS had a relaxed attitude?

[Desert185]

Meanwhile, you are sitting at the controls with a crash axe in the cockpit. Did the moron's name tag say "Obtuse"?

Glad I'm retired from the airline goat rope.

[wheelbarrow]

I see nothing has changed at STN! When all this started after 9/11 we regularly went through STN and they had some pretty moronic security then. Worst one was when a colleague had a packet of cup a soup taken off him. He protested that it was not a liquid or gel only to have the smug response that when it had hot water added (200ml) it would be a liquid and over the proscribed limit!

[gehenna]

Just to let you know that you are entitled to ask the person who is searching your belongings to wear a clean pair of disposable plastic gloves; if they ask why, tell that that for reasons of hygiene for your belongings you insist as they may have been in contact with germs or alike from other searches, and that you do not know what they may be 'carrying.' Also point out that you may have something contagious (!) that they may not wish to contract.

You are entitled by law to ask for this.

Good luck.

[ICEHOUSES]

Hi Flyray, as a European freight dog I understand that all uk airports enforce the 100ml rule for pilots at present, however for the rest of Europe it doesn't matter, as you pointed out though the security guys at STN normally demand that your bag travels in the hold, if you can't get access to catering or bottled water airside there's normally a water fountain at the search area.

[Kengineer-130]

Sad as it sounds, don't blame the worker ant security guy, he gets his ass busted for not following the "rules" , just as you as a pilot are expected to follow SOPs/ air law unless there is an exceptional circumstance.

As an Engineer, we have the same problems of being refused to carry through a bottle of water, but happily take gallons of hydraulic fluids, engine oils through etc :ugh::rolleyes:.. Justifying your tools is always good fun as well, and I have watched a colleague have his spanners x-rayed, although what they expected to find inside spanners was beyond me!

The best way to deal with it is to make sure you are within the rules, and don't give the security guys a hard time, as they are only doing the job they are asked to do, no matter how daft you or I think the rules are, and most of the time they agree with you.

Still a PITA though :ugh:

[OhNoCB]

Without any reference I was under the impression all European states have waived the 100 ml restriction for pilots except UK. Perhaps some smaller units see through the fingers, someone hinted BFS had a relaxed attitude?


Hinted that BFS had a relaxed attitude? Either they had a one off or they were having you for one. I have recently not been allowed to take my flight bag through security because the staff have deemed it "too big" for hand luggage and it had to be carted around through over-sized baggage in the main terminal by Servisair. On asking about it I was told the rule used to be that anything that didn't fit through the xray scanner had to go but it was now changed but noone could tell me what to. It amazes me that security personel seem to have greater knowledge over where the bags are going than the crew, especially when it is the crews' bags.

And forget about taking liquids through unless they're <100ml in the transparent plastic bag.

[Dan Winterland]

I have watched a colleague have his spanners x-rayed, although what they expected to find inside spanners was beyond me!


I watched 120 soldiers having to put their hand carry items through an x-ray machine in Canada. What were they carrying? L85 5.56mm assault rifles and bayonets!

[Dan Winterland]

I fly in Asia where the rules are adapted for the circumstances and the liquid rule is exempt for pilots at all our airports. But travelling through LHR T3 recently as a pax, I observed appalling behaviour from a security screener. An elderly passenger of middle eastern appearance in western dress was confused as to the exact procedure and was asking the security man what to do. The screener ignored the passenger. After several times asking, the passenger assumed the screener was deaf and tapped him on the shoulder and which point the idiot turned around and shouted that he was not to be touched and if it happened again, the passenger would be arrested. The poor passenger looked visibly shaken, I explained what I considered to be the procedure while the idiot stood there continuing to stare blankly at the wall. I considered raising the point at the time but realising the idiot had far more powers that his intellect could cope with, I said nothing.

As expected, myself and the poor other passenger got special treatment, myself being asked some very leading (and rather stupid) questions. The poor old guy was shaking at the end of it, I felt I had to apologise for my country. As we were in the ''by invitation line'' we were both travelling on premium tickets, in my case the Airport Passenger Duty was GBP188. Is that what we're paying for?

I made a note of all the details and addressed them to a security manager at LHR from my work e-mail so he could see I was employed in the industry. I haven't had a reply.

[q1W2e3R4t5]

Sometime ago whilst passing through enterprise security cargo crew were ahead of me. One of them forgot to take his iPad out of a soft leather crew bag. He was told to remove it and that they would like to search his bag to which he agreed. The bag was lifted off the table by a single female member of security and placed on the floor on her side. The iPad was declared safe and when the capt asked about his bag was told that she had to wait on another member of staff to help her lift it back up onto the table due to health and safety. So there we were all waiting until another member of security turned up to assist in lifting the bag. They took a strap each lowered down with straight backs and lifted it back onto the table. It was like a demonstration on how to lift objects correctly according to the H&S manual. I looked at the staff member who had swiped my ID card and they just looked completely embarrassed to be associated with this person.

[Blue Bottle]

I watched 120 soldiers having to put their hand carry items through an x-ray machine in Canada. What were they carrying? L85 5.56mm assault rifles and bayonets!

Dan - Thats got to be the best way for a person that has had no training on the weapon system to a make sure there are no live rounds in the chamber or magazine and so the rifle is safe to fly!

Makes sence to me..

[172_driver]

Not all screener's are a*holes but the job tend to attract people that just can't handle the power they're given. And The UK policing mentally is not helping matters.
In MAN I was told that my bag was too big for the x-ray machine. I said, it will fit just fine. It's too big for the trays, was their response then. Me.. WTF :confused: Took me almost an hour to get through, and I lost the Body Shop winter collection for my partner.. but that was of course my fault :rolleyes:

[ShedsRus]

I would just like to reply to A&C post of 13/03 regarding security at BHX.

I only go through there as a pax these days (once/twice a month normally) so no idea how they now treat the crews.

From a passenger point of view they all seem to have been to charm school and I get treated to a customer service attitude that most banks would die for. This I may add is in sharp contrast to my previous experiences back about 2 years when the instructions to strip were given by (apparently) ex sergeant majors.

The only time this charm slips is when dealing with a lot of the bucket & spade brigade who are(usually) either inebriated, illiterate or too ignorant to understand that <remove coat and belt> applies to them.

Just thought I'd stick up for the few amongst the many who do their job with some semblance of humanity while maintaining what passes for security at British airports

[mad_jock]

Its not uncommon to hide a round in an assualt rifle. This is done in case the person has a ND and when they do an ammunition check and everyone one has the issued amount they can`t find the guilty bastard.

[Aksai Oiler]

Obviously you have not noticed the Nazis in the TSA? Maybe they all go to the same charm school?

[FLCH]

They probably do but most of us go through the known crew member program in the US, and don't have to deal with multiple brown shirts.
KCM is something that the UK authorities would never allow because it is such a nanny state.

[Ex Cargo Clown]

They are dense. Once had a half full 150ml bottle of CK1 confiscated as it was over 100mls. Who employs these idiots?

[eastern wiseguy]

Bird control guy dispatched to shoot rooks. He had to pass from airside across a road back in to airside. He was spotted being frisked. In one hand he was holding a box of shells and in the other a shotgun. BFS.

The guys there were (with very very few exceptions) pleasant and efficient.(I passed through there every six days out of ten for 28 years ).
They realise that they MUST follow the asinine rules. It is instant dismissal if they don't. The interpretation of the rules starts with the head of security and her rules will be adhered to.(resistance is futile) .

I have every sympathy with the crap they have to administer.

Glad I pulled the black and yellow handle and retired.

[F14]

I went through the UK security a couple of years back at a big Midlands airport. The people there are doing an important job, but to be honest are not the nicest bunch, especially when they frisk the same crew day in day out year after year.

Anyway the guy in front was an engineer or cargo loader. Seemed to be a fitness fanatic and had obviously cycled in judging by his lycra gear and back pack. Anyway he was absolutely dripping with sweat and set off the arch alarms, had to be frisked!!! I was laughing so much at the face of the stasi security guy....

[silverknapper]

Liverpool once stopped me for a random search. Only last year. Upon finding two passports in my bag decided to 'detain' me. The fact they were both in my name didn't seem to convince them it was legit. As I got more irate I informed them they were making it up as they went along and the contents of passengers document wallets was none of their business. Any moment now they'll realise how ridiculous this is I thought to myself. Nope. I actually called the police to have them charged as they weren't getting anywhere. And even then they had to check with the Border agency that some occupations are entitled to two passports.

I don't find manchester too bad. But low cost cancer has ruined lpl. Both in arrivals and departures. Haven't paxed through there since and never will.

[RHS]

Couldn't sympathise with you more there silverknapper. Liverpool has to be the worst passenger experience in the UK for security, I observe something I find completely unacceptable virtually every time I go there.

[philbky]

Have just completed a trip around the world as SLF with She Who Must Be Obeyed. Hand luggage included a back pack with two camera bodies, assorted lenses, batteries, memory cards, chargers and leads. This pack regularly travels with me long and short haul.

SWMBO is an attractive middle aged woman. Her hand baggage, as usual, contained liquids properly packed and sized as per the rules, a Kindle an Android tablet and an i-Pad. She also wears ear rings in pierced ears, a watch with metal wristband and a bracelet, the last two go in the x- ray tray.

This is how we fared:

Shannon: polite staff, no queries re camera gear, no problems. Standard for Shannon, sometimes get comments on my 500mm lens from screeners interested in photography. No problem for SWMBO

Heathrow T3: Rudely told by male security while in the line that my back pack looked heavy and it must be unpacked for x-ray. When I pointed out it weighed just 7 kg to meet cabin baggage limits for some of the airlines we would be travelling on and it was camera gear, was told all items needed individual x-ray as lenses often don't show up if packed together. This is a new one on me. Regularly transit T5 and T1 with little bother other than brusque or rude staff. Result, a long delay as I had to unpack, causing the line to be held up plus delay and annoyance due to repacking. Wife singled out for thorough explosive sniffer test.

There were three staff with clip boards overseeing this machine and the one adjacent. A case of cause and effect?

Hong Kong: Polite but wife's small ear rings set off arch alarm. Subjected to wand check by a male. No pat down as no female staff close by.

Singapore: No problems. Polite and efficient

Melbourne: No problems.

Alice Springs: No problems.

Cairns: Wife given wand check even though arch did not sound alert. Male staff and very chatty.

Sydney: No problems.

Australian airports generally seemed alert, friendly and efficient. Guess the guy at Cairns was bored.

Auckland: No problems on two trips through security. Wife left Kindle in bag in error on one trip. Not queried.

Rarotonga: Extremely slow due to only one machine for a full B777. Had to open camera bag after x-ray but didn't have to unload.

Orlando: No problems other than slow lines.

Regularly use US airports and the much maligned TSA seem to be getting more polite. IAH is particularly pleasant when boarding for London.

Having spent much of the 1990s organising and running aviation security conferences sponsored by governments, the equipment manufacturers and the airline industry, I find the attitude of the security staff at UK airports generally rates from poor to appalling. If you ask a question, query a decision or are overheard commenting to a fellow traveller about your experience, you are immediately treated with suspicion and singled out for special treatment. It seems to me that some staff make things up as they go along knowing that they have the whip hand.

[Wageslave]

Flyray, the "liquid" rules most emphatically do apply to pilots. They apply equally to everyone.

The definition of "liquid" is interpreted by these drones in a very creative way too - lasagne for instance, or solid mascara. At my airport (LTN) one of my colleagues had his rice pudding confiscated but the risotto got through. Figure that one out! We simply aren't dealing with normal intellects here.

[despegue]

Wageslave,

The liquid rule for OPERATING crew has been waved by all EU countries, and most of the World EXCEPT by the idiots in the UK.

[mad_jock]

Wageslave I walked through security this morning with a 2ltr bottle of diet coke in my bag in an EU airport, didn't even have a local security pass.

The ground handler was given 2 big bags of shopping for the FO's Mrs of local produce. Which got delivered to his hand at the aircraft.

Its only in the UK you get this nonsense.

[Laarbruch72]

They are dense. Once had a half full 150ml bottle of CK1 confiscated as it was over 100mls. Who employs these idiots?


The rule states that liquids have to be packed in containers of 100ml or less. I'd say that in this case the "idiot" was right and that you misunderstood what's allowable and what isn't.

[halas]

Few years ago in MAN, put EVERYTHING on the belt.
After l go through personnel screener security guy asks where my ID is.
Told him its just about to come through on the tray in Xray screener.
Gives me loud spray on the fact that if l go through screening, l must have an ID on.
Half way through his rant l noticed he didn't have an ID displayed.
When he finished, l asked him where his ID was?
Flustered, he then challenged me to 'Who do you think you are.....?'
I called for the supervisor, as l collected my belongings, had my ID back on and he gets a bollocking from the supervisor.
Small victory.

halas

[Desert185]

100ml is a pretty small crew bottle. :cool:

Keeping in mind that the pilots have control of the airplane with a crash axe in the cockpit, one can come to the obvious conclusion that there are, indeed, an overabundance of idiots making the rules. Any other conclusion is not worthy of consideration by reasonable and logical-thinking people.

Glad to be an airline retiree...

[mad_jock]

Ltr of Apple juice, and a pepper and ham salad in that white sauce stuff today. Through without a word.

The issue is that every aircraft that arrives in the UK the crew will be able to take what ever fluids they like on. And they will be able to interact with ground handlers and do aircraft swaps etc.

Its only UK pilots boarding that have these restrictions. And there is nothing stopping them going ground side then clearing security with fluids once they are away.

So it's completely pointless.

[magicmick]

I can believe someone getting their fruit juice past security but a jock eating salad, that's pushing the boundaries a bit.

You should come down to Somerset and try some of our special apple juice, a few litres of that and you'll be fighting with the security staff.

[mad_jock]

last time I drank Rattler in Cornwall I lost 3 hours of memory not a thing remembered after the first pint apart from having to run to the bog with a wet fart brewing while the second one was pulled.. And I was right, it was more an acidic waterfall than a fart.

And the bread is mankie as hell here and the salad after you chuck a can of sweet corn in it, is the least of a bad option as long as you don't get by mistake the fish salad. And there have been a fair few of them been dumped in FOD buckets until I sussed out the local lingo for fish. The pickled herring salad is particularly vile, but well worth dipping the FO's mic sock in before dumping it.

[magicmick]

Wow you only lost three hours, that's a result most people including myself could record the memory loss on a calendar not a watch. Fish and salad leaves should never appear in the same dish though the first officer mic sock trick sounds pretty evil but funny. Keep enjoying the non fishy salads MJ though the special white sauce sounds a bit suspect.

[mad_jock]

there was no green ****e involved.

Its bits of smoked peppered ham chopped up with green and red peppers also diced with some sauce holding the whole lot together. Its bit like potato salad in the UK. Its ok with a bit of the local enliven bread to dip in it with a bit of humus.

One of the other Jock skippers had the same idea when he got the fish option by mistake, he went for dipping the end of the FO's pen in it while he was doing the walk round filling up the bic cap with the rancid crap.

The post top of climb fuel check and suck on pen produced quite a spectacular CRM incident involving 5 mins of pilot incapacitation due to uncontrollable laughter.

Funny enough we hadn't even discussed this practise with each other it was just instinct that it need to be done.

[magicmick]

That's the sort of sadism normally reserved for the military, have you served in the past or is it a jock thing? Bloody funny all the same. I don't know where exactly you fly from but I have spent several months in Northern Norway with the military in the past and the local fish based cuisine was stinking, thankfully the military brought in their own food. One of this lads had a winter wife who was a horror and stank of fish but she was loaded as her family owned the local fish processing plant so she could afford drinks in the local bars and she used to taxi the boys around in a plush merc so happy days I suppose.

[mad_jock]

Aye both ex sappers. He was a POM though so thick as tar.

I have been up there and its rank.

[magicmick]

In that case kudos to you both, I guess that the leasson for your F/Os is to buy a pen with a clicky button on the top and ditch the mic sock.

[BR36]

I don't quite understand why the rules about 'excess' liquids apply to pilots, they are charged with the safety of the aircraft and could do far more damage using the aircraft itself than with 101ml of explosives!!!!

[FerrypilotDK]

This my friends, is what we in the VIP end of the industry, call job security. Our passengers drive right to their aircraft, spend crazy amounts of money for this privilege and so we keep our jobs!:ok:

[flying mechanik]

This my friends, is what we in the VIP end of the industry, call job security. Our passengers drive right to their aircraft, spend crazy amounts of money for this privilege and so we keep our jobs!:ok:


Which is not true anymore as the same rules are applied to Pax on private flight aswell on more or less each Airport in the EU :{

[air pig]

Err, don't think so.

[mad_jock]

Which is not true anymore as the same rules are applied to Pax on private flight aswell on more or less each Airport in the EU

Completely rubbish. There are some airports would like to believe that. But the vast majority you don't have any restrictions.

[justanotherflyer]

Meanwhile, you are sitting at the controls with a crash axe in the cockpit.

Don't let "security" know that, or they'll suspect you of attempting to gain control of your airplane.

[FAStoat]

Whilst being patted down at Stansted,positioning with my Crew,these Richard Heads emptied the contents of my Flight Bag onto the counter and told me it all had to be placed onto the tray and be Xrayed,yet apart from paperwork folder it was entirely self explanatory,apart from my Head Phones that could have gone bang!!Then on examining and opening my First Officer's case a "Rubber Foam Chicken" exploded out of his case into the air,to be applauded by Passengers in the queue and general laughter of the Crew and other members of their own staff.He was duly dispatched to their Duty Manager and a report against him was made to our Ops Director and Chief Pilot.Happily they saw the funny side,as the plonker concerned did NOT have to open his case,but just X Ray it,so what he got was as a direct result of his actions only,and not specifically the First Officer's in putting such Foam Chicken in his case.How that was explained I dont know,but we got special treatment until posted down to Gatwick.The same FO then got a Gorilla photo lightly stuck on to his ID and as the back was swiped each time,the front did not get a look in,so he ran with the gorilla photo for some weeks,until a senior member of staff advised him to remove it!!!!Such was Security only a few years back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Al Murdoch]

Whilst the rules in the UK are ludicrous and implemented by some occasionally unpleasant people - nothing, nothing, compares to the gross invasion of privacy in having my hold baggage broken into by the TSA when I am not present. I fly the plane! I don't need a suitcase bomb! I sometimes feel like leaving a dirty protest in there...

[despegue]

MonarchOrBust,

Operating Crew are exempt from the no liquid ban in all EASA situated airports.
This comes literally from our head of Security who is also an auditor for Airport security all over EASA land.

He also said though that in the uk, some local airport authorities and screeners think they know better and INVENT their own rules, deliberately making the lifes of crew difficult.

They know very well that they are using non standard restricions but alas, as crew the inly thing we can do is to remain polite, to explain the exemption rule and to write a report.

[PaulFrank]

Operating Crew are exempt from the no liquid ban in all EASA situated airports.
This comes literally from our head of Security who is also an auditor for Airport security all over EASA land.

Is there a written reference to this?

[Bokkenrijder]

Here's the future of airport 'security:' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM5LyotHUhs

And please remember folks: "we can't let the terrorists win.." so therefore we have to let the knee-jerk Nazis win! :ugh:

p.s. no need to get excited about the "naked" in the video. It's all neatly censored just the way they like it, and so that all the 'good family values' and Patriot Act loving folks can sleep well at night. :yuk:

[despegue]

Not censored at all in Domodedovo and the ones inspecting your image are all female....so gentlemen, make sure you look your " best" for the camera :}

[GMH]

I nearly had a large can of deodorant confiscated once going through the cargo rvp even though I was crew because the can was over 10ml.

I only kept it when the screeners asked me if my case was going in the hold or the cabin and I said "hold".

A colleague accidentally said "cabin" and has his confiscated!

The fact that this was a cargo a/c and we could put our cases where I liked didn't seem to matter!