Skylark58

That article should be copied worldwide - summed it up perfectly. It should line the walls of every search point in every airport, but it won't of course.

Yet still we endure this daily crap

Thank you.

Yep, profiling it is, here is how it works in the US:

a)Alien ( this is American for a non US citizen ) , considered a 80% terrorist => you get one S on your profile

b) Booking an airline ticket through internet,giving a non US adress alarm starts ringing
=> you get a second S on your profile

c)Paying with a non US credit card = > you get your third S in your profile

d)booking a one way trip => you get your SSSS on your boarding pass and are elevated to " special treatment " when you get to security, prolonging the "intensive search " by .5 - 1hour

Good thing you meet a lot of fellow Europeans whilst waiting in line who are all treated the same way. The only Americans you meet are the intelligent TSA people who are searching though your dirty underwear.

When I book through a US company credit card with my US driver licence, SSSS boarding passes never happen.

US citizen good guy = European citizen bad guy

Frank

Obviously youve never seen what happens if you also have a muslim name.:sad:

I did post this on another thread, but it's worth repeating: a friend of mine was flying back from a US trip, PHL to LHR and had a brand new Laptop and a £1000 microphone stolen from his checked and TSA screened baggage. Discussion with the Philadelphia police department revealed that the unions there block the installation of CCTV in the baggage sorting area. So someone screening the bags puts a discreet mark on a bag that is 'of interest' and away go the valuables? .Perhaps.....

Theft is one thing, but if it is possible for something to be removed from a bag, then a bomb can equally well be put in. Meanwhile 'security' upstairs are more concerned about the Captains contact lens solution.:ugh:

Hi Diaz,

guess we will meet at the "special area":).
I am not sure if the TSA guys know the differences between Al Bert and Albert.

However the good news is that about 60.000 overweight, underpaid and underintelligent people are now getting free health care and better pay.

Ok, some might still be tempted to cream off a little bit more from the luggage contents as skylark suggests.

Frank

Good article Skylark
The Airport Security Follies

No wonder that "Comments are no longer being accepted" after only one day, I've been through most of the 334 comments and could not find more than 10 of them disagreeing with Mr Smith.

Crews and passengers know what it's all about ...

Well, here's a new one:

Just before Xmas I was departing LHR for HKG. Passed through the T4 crew security channel and my bag containing my DSLR was detained by security. The camera gear comprises a Nikon D200, 2 lenses and a flash. Security asked whether the camera was for personal or operational reasons. Puzzled, I said personal; not going to lie about that anyway. They then stated crew are not permitted to take cameras through unless it's for operational reasons.

I stood my ground and a supervisor from the remote office was summoned. There ensued a very unpleasant 10 minute standoff/altercation where they wouldn't yield. I pointed out, and received acknowledgment from these, "people", that passengers were permitted to take cameras! So why not crew?! Oh, and that cameras are not prohibited items; indeed LHR rules state to carry them in your hand luggage. Oh and that I've been carrying the exact same camera kit through LHR all year, no drama before. Oh and that I could buy the exact same camera duty free once through security!

Anyway, they finally got on the radio to a fourth level of security hierarchy, who when asked if crew could take cameras airside, stated, "Oh yes, that's ok!"

Chased it up with my management when I got home. Management got onto LHR management and determined that there is a restriction on RETAIL staff taking cameras airside, but no such restriction applies to crew. The excuse? There are new/inexperienced staff at the security points and it was probably a misunderstanding. Well, you'd think the supervisors on the points would know the rules.

All very unpleasant and frankly, is nothing short of harassment of crew prior to operating. Threatening to separate crew from $1000's of dollars worth of breakable and attractive assets (from theft pov), is a safety issue. I was furious and distracted during the actual takeoff/departure by this. Security value added? Zilch. Impact on safety? Significant.

Next time I will just walk away and someone else can sort it all out.

I'm still considering whether to submit a safety report to the Aussie CASA and/or UK CAA, if nothing else for info/statistics. The boss is a bit tied up with -400 electrical issues down here just at the moment, though....

For now, this post is to highlight yet another disgraceful security situation wrt crew and to ensure we all know our rights.

Submit the MOR/ASR.
At the momement in the UK TRANSEC believe their are no problems with security or their affect on flight safety as they have no reports of any problems.

Agree with the above......submit ASR/MOR and also e-mail a report to CHIRP who are building up a database of such events thus allowing TRANSEC know about these problems

jay arr,
great post. summarises what we are feeling. i think you should make an issue of it. don't get yourself in trouble mate, run it past your boss that you are going to submit a report and get him onside. then submit an sair and chirp report. thats the kind of solid data needed to back up the rubbish treatment we all go through.