tec

Recently on a long-haul flight from Europe to Asia I was slightly surprised to find that on-board meals were accompanied by metal cutlery - there was a standard stainless steel fork as well as a knife.

It made me think - with steel items like these, wouldn't one be able to cause serious injuries to either fellow passengers or the cabin crew? Of course nothing happened nor have I heard of any incidents, but does the security assessment of allowing metal cutlery (that I assume has been carried out) indeed just rely on expectation of all passengers being mentally sound and otherwise with good intentions?

Maybe I am being too paranoid, but what is the point of actually removing all sharp items from hand baggage when there are sharp items given out to everyone on board?

Just now thinking - I guess one could also take a metal fork from an airport restaurant and take this on board. Although this is probably a different case.

Not sure if this is perhaps common practice - but isn't it then rather a security issue? On most domestic flight in Europe I have never got any metal items, only plastic knives and forks.

Thanks!

James 1077

The metal cutlery depends on where you are travelling from and to.

Some routes you'll get metal knives and forks; some metal forks and plastic knives and some plastic knives and forks.

Personally I think that not having metal cutlery is rediculous and is part of the need to make people believe that everything is being done to make you safe when, in fact, it is simply inconveniencing people. Afterall you can do much more damage by buying a couple of bottles of vodka in duty free and breaking them open to use as weapons than you can with a metal knife - yet they still sell glass bottles in duty free!

Donkey497

Welcome to absurdia....

You are quite correct, thoroughly observant & the only mistake that you are making, although it is a common one is to assume that the "powers that be" who make the rules are actually observant & aware of what happens in the real world.

You will find that many if not all business & first class service has steel cutlery, and as you comment, almost all airside cafe's and restaurants have steel cutlery which could easily be uplifted by the sticky fingered.

It makes you think what security is actually meant to achieve.

13 please

Strangely, before we went back to metal, the plastic knives were much sharper than the metal ones...!!!

Final 3 Greens

tec

I hope that you have visited your local police station and reported yourself.

BTW, I eat a meal on a plane most weeks with metal cutlery, on an EU based airline.

There are really more important security risks to worry about, like the effects of a prolonged UK recession on the crime rates, thank goodness I don't live there.

tec

Well, I am not particularly concerned about it, but for example once I was told to throw away my tiny and rather harmless nail scissors (that I forgot in my hand baggage) at security. I was happy to throw away the scissors - my mistake as there are rules, I understand - afterwards though it is quite disturbing to find such metal items on board as forks.

So absurd indeed, exactly as Donkey497 outlined it.

It was somewhat hard to accept that the authorities just didn't think about it and I was hoping someone maybe had an idea about the reasoning behind this. Although maybe there indeed isn't - there's not much common sense around these days.

PAXboy

tec You are trying to discuss this topic with logic. Don't forget that politicians are involved in making the decisions. Airline execs can suffer from low logic levels, politicians are not known to have any.

Load Toad

Sweetchristalf'mighty.

Any analysis of the numbers of times some one has gone postal with on-board cutlery?

I get on every flight carrying a near unbreakable wire and plastic cord quite long enough to wrap around a persons neck and throttle them with it. On one end is a hard plastic weight with three big metal spikes on the end - I could clobber someone on the head with it if I wanted.

I've also carry a book that I could shove down someones throat.

Final 3 Greens

Me too, except I have two garottes, one with a 3 spikes and one with a 2 spikes.

Haven't been on the thugee course yet, but I reckon the weights are so you can throw it around someone's neck from a safe distance.

But to make sure I'm no threat, they do make me pack my Kensington computer locking cable in my checked bags

Mind you, I did once accidentally cut myself with a penknife when I was about 10, does that make me dangerous?

Globaliser

Best economy class knife I've ever used was one of the cute but very effective Qantas plastic knives.

Load Toad

Yes with that Qantas plastic the silent killing of enemy sentries is both easy and effective.

BOFH

Clearly, in the interests of safety, all passengers should be handcuffed for the duration of the flight, fed through a tube and catheterized.

This will not preclude the possibility of an insane passenger kicking another to death, so lightweight ankle irons should be worn.

Headbutting is another concern - cervical collars can be fitted before embarking to preclude this deadly risk.

Only then will the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of air passengers dying daily thanks to pathological maniacs running amok and eviscerating their victims with metal teaspoons come to an end.

BOFH
(I also recommend fashioning a hat from tinfoil and wearing it after takeoff to protect against cosmic rays and the satellites which the Illuminati put into orbit to beam ideas into the stratosphere.)

PAXboy

Whilst I agree with Load Toad's polite point of view but there might be new folks on here who have not read of this amusing conflict of instructions.

It is at this point that I usually add my two weapons of choice. Firstly, the laptop PC and all airlines encourage folk to bring these - particularly if you are are in C or F (nearer the FC) and provide power and possibly Internet access. A good sized Dell can weigh 2Kg and I think that this will inconvenience a person when I bash them over the head with it.

Secondly, if they have confiscated my laptop along with my 101 ml of hand cream, then they will gladly sell me a 1 litre bottle of spirits which weighs a lot and, after I have broken it over someone's head, I can then stab lots of people with the glass. Perhaps the SLF Forum should write a book about this.

Joking aside, politicians have NO idea after all, look how they stopped monitoring the banks ...

Al Fakhem

Anybody with even basic army training - and remember, there are countries with conscription - has been trained to kill without the use of any weapon. The correct pressure applied to a specific point of the throat is sufficient.

So: no need to waste time thinking about the sharpness of implements or the lengths of blades.

apaddyinuk

You will find that the metal cutlery on airlines are indeed regulated as to the depth of the teeth on the knives etc. To be honest, the plastic knives were a hell of a lot more sharper and dangerous then the metal cutlery we have nowadays.

point8six

Perhaps the airlines will sell their surplus sharp plastic knives to " Fridays" in the terminals, so that I won't have to pick up my steak and use my teeth to cut chunks off! ( Yes - I eat before flying - 38 years of airline food is a good enough reason)! I suppose I could go "vegeterian" and only need a fork and a spoon

Load Toad

An interesting choice of weapon sir and I applaud the ingenuity but must ask why you do not take a selection of emery boards or nail files onboard too? You can sand the Dell down to make a 'flying blade' and you can also give people some nasty grazes with the emery boards.

To summarize: if people want to hurt other people and endanger the plane, crew and passengers they do not have to wait until the in-flight meal is served.


I can imagine the terrorist / nutter / cycling path / chav / drunkard sitting in 45D now thinking 'Damn them - why don't they start the cabin service!'

k3lvc

Well slightly off topic but if we're going to discuss dangerous implements we'd better not let those who make the decisions see this.

Manage Your Anger Safely

p.s apologies if this gets the thread transferred to JB - it's meant to keep a light hearted angle on things, not to offend anyone