Amazed they didn't insist on a thorough inspection of the factory, too...could have been manufacturing the lethal stuff right on the plane!

The land of milk and honey
 

Only in America mate! And yes, it's totally believeable!

Hijacked with lethal breast milk..... our "cousins" never cease to amaze. So whats next - full body cavity searches for everyone - after all we could have a knife / stick of explosive / nail clippers secreted inside our person for use once airborne....

I used to love the States and our friends there but they really are not doing themselves any favours now. As someone said on a similar thread the other day the words "American" and "Intelligence" dont seem to go together just now.

While operating a US - UK flight last week, I met one of these obsructive idiots. A Milwaukee security cop jus' doin his job - he didn't want to let me go back aboard the aeroplane I'd just landed because his hand held scanner detected that my uniform clip-on tie had a metal clip. Had he to inspect it to ensure that I hadn't cunningly sharpened it?... with the devious intent of cutting my own head off just before the next landing? in violation of Federal Law? He asked me repeatedly "Will yo allow me to touch your person here?" In a litigation avoidance tone of voice before frisking one pocket at a time.

I spent a good 10 minutes proving that my belt, shoes and shirt wings were not made of C-4. I heard from an ex TWA pilot afterwards that if you become exasperated with their panto and turn down a request to touch your person wherever, you are sent to the special treatment room for an "interview" and the works.
Is controlling an aeroplane with between 1 and 500 souls aboard really that much safer with your nail clippers confiscated? They have lost the plot.

I would welcome an opportunity to reverse the spread of this virus of ridicule which now seems to have previously reasonable locations (UK & Europe) by the throat.

What can we do?

These are the morons that are supposed to keep us safe!!:eek:
Some of Y´all are talking about education levels etc. This has nothing to do with that. It´s a Question about the level of IQ.
Where do they get these people anyway? Do they ship them in on busses from the ward every morning or what? No wonder the US pilots want to arm themselvs :cool: .

My sympathies are with the mother put through an embarrassing ordeal.

I suppose the next step will be a complaint from some human rights organisation about public indecency if the poor lady tries to breast feed her child on the aircraft.

Where oh where are we going?

MP:(

When will security staff make you drink your shaving foam, aftershave, lick your deodorant stick, eat your lipstick etc ??? ;) ;)

I suspect that, if security staff were more intelligent, life would be even more difficult for the passengers. One of the minipulses has a holiday job working as a search officer at a ferry terminal. After only three weeks of hearing the same "original" jokes from punters he has started to look for ways of relieving the boredom.

Last week he won a £30 bet by getting a car driver to stand on one leg and recite "I'm a Little Teapot". One wonders how many of the other incidents are for similar reasons.

Face it guys, Osama has won...:(

These idiots ought to be taken out and shot, uncle Joe (Stalin) style. Remove 'em from the human gene pool and all that.

Makes me glad I fly helicopters.:D

For those who don't know .... like 411A (who presumably also drinks cows' milk straight from the teat .....!)

One expresses breast milk in much the same way as one gets cow's or goat's milk - either by hand (which is frankly about as much fun as milking a cow for either mum or dad) or by pump.

It serves the same purpose - you can use it later on. This is particularly valuable if your baby was premature, and in an incubator, so you can't feed it yourself, or if mum is going to work or out for the evening and wants somebody else to feed baby, but wants to keep up your production of milk (which drops off if the baby feeds on formula), or to ensure that baby gets the best all the time.

I never had the nerve (as an adult!) to taste a large sample (either expressed or "on tap" as it were), but in small doses, it was sweet and not as "heavy" as cows' milk. My children seem to have done OK by it.

Breast is best!

There is a lot of stuff about childbirth that, frankly, it's best not to know about until you have to ... for the sake of the continuation of the human species.

Yes, sympathy to the mother involved - what a disgrace.

Some points to ponder:

A large number of the screeners were kept on from Argen"dull" or whoever the previous shambles was before becoming Gov. employees. Many, many of them are immigrants - many from Africa - and a great deal of them show very limited command of English. This lets down the good job done by others. I suspect some of them have never seen expressed milk in bottles. Some of them clearly don't like women - just ask the FA's.

I had to sit an English test for my Green Card, way back when, so I give the screeners one when I suspect they're struggling. I carry a chart clip - shows up interesting on an x-ray - I claim it's part of my flight equipment. Bingo....immediate English language problems....call for Supervisor....report to Chief pilot that yet another screener can't cope with basic English....

We have the ludicrous situation right now that I can't go for recurrent training without 30-day DOJ approval, but in the meantime I'm ok to continue flying the real thing....duhhh.

I suspect this is why the previous TSA chief was asked to leave...the ATA had had enough, and started some very powerful lobbying. Maybe the Admiral will bring back some sense....

Tinstaafl - it tastes MUCH better than cows milk and the natural containers are so much nicer, too!

These security guards are not going to get medals from the President, they are all going to be running for President. The Americans are willingly turning their country into a Dictatorship - maybe W will get some electoral tips from Bob Mugabe (or has Bob got his tips from W?).

Even with the IRA at full steam we never got this crazy on the eastern side of the Atlantic.

I just feel sorry for the mother.

Thank f*ck I'm not an American and that my country is about as far from the place as you can get!

Awakevotice - Would have gladly told said "security" agent where he could shove my tie pin and belt. I would have liked him to deal with my employers after the incident and to explain to them why he felt he needed to delay a flight by hours. Costing the company a change in crew (due to expired duty), overnight accomodation for passengers and any other charges levied by ATC for a new slot, parking overnight etc etc. BUT maybe this is just an annoyed me talking at the moment!

I mean, breast milk for christs sake. Like someone else said, they took the amunition away from her and left her with the full factories still intact!

I would also like to know what crew member, in their right mind, would hand control of an aircraft (no matter what size), over to someone with a nail file and clippers :rolleyes: If someone came up to you in the street with a nail file would you give them your wallet?? I dont think so!

RANT OVER

Twin

It would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic and no doubt a stressfull experience for the mother. I'm not an expert on explosives but does any known explosive look any thing like milk (breast or otherwise?) And if she's prepared to drink any of it, let alone give it to her child, erm doesn't that prove it?

I understand the need for mothers to 'espress' the milk, but what the hell is wrong with breast feeding in the aircraft? The only person who could possibly see anything with out deliberatly craning their necks is the one sitting next to her (husband/partner?) and a stragically placed blanket should surfice.
When I was staying in Florida once, a program fuzzed out the back view of a womans breast (ie what you could see under her arm!) I mean, the crap and the violence that America has peddled in films to the whole world and they're worried about that! Something definetely not right.

Having never been a father, I have not had the opportunity to taste the material at source ...

I gather from others that it is very pleasant. Mothers have told me that they cheerfully had infant on one side and husband on the other :cool:

Is that why it's called 'espresso' coffee?

Land of the Free? Land of the terminally paranoid and ignorant, more like.

Were there any witnesses to this event? I'm sure that, being a nursing mother, the lady is beyond reproach, but with the prospect of a multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement, we need to be sure of the facts before making accusations.

Airclues

Appologies if this has already been mentioned but I don't have time to read the full post. I recall a few months ago a story on Reporting Points of a teenage boy who became very ill after being asked to drink ditch water by US airport screeners that he had collected for a school science project .

I understand that adults lack the necessary enzyme to digest breast milk, and that drinking it in any quantity is capable of making the adult consumer feel most unwell...