Ha Schiphol! I was once escorted to an interrogation room by a guy with a machine gun when the the metallic wrapper of a chocolate bar in my pocket set off an alarm.![]()
Okay everyone, just relax
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091228/...1mbGlnaHRzZWM-
In-flight security rules eased
By DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer David Koenig, Ap Airlines Writer – 36 mins ago
DALLAS – In-flight security rules have been eased after a two-day clampdown, airline officials familiar with the matter said Monday.
At the captain's discretion, passengers can once again have blankets and other items on their laps or move about the cabin during the tail end of flight. In-flight entertainment restrictions have also been lifted.
The airline officials spoke on condition of anonymity because federal safety officials had not publicly announced the changes.
Security rules were relaxed in the last 24 hours, one official said.
Tougher airline security measures were imposed Friday after a man flying from Nigeria to Amsterdam then to the U.S. on a Northwest Airlines flight tried to ignite an explosive as the plane prepared to land in Detroit. On Sunday, police met another Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight after the crew reported a "verbally disruptive passenger." A law enforcement official said the man posed no security risk to the plane.
Government officials have refused to discuss what restrictions had been put into place, but in many airports lines were longer and security personnel were extra diligent.
Travelers on incoming international flights said that during the final hour, attendants removed blankets, banned opening overhead bins, and told passengers to stay in their seats with their hands in plain sight.
In Philadelphia, sisters Leslie and Lilliam Bernal said security was much tighter as they returned from a wedding in the Dominican Republic than it had been in September, when they made the same trip.
Leslie, 26, of Keasby, N.J., said security screeners in Santo Domingo asked her to lift her long hair so they could look at her back.
"I don't mind at all," she said. "I'd rather them do what they have to do."
Authorities introduced a second layer of security at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. On Monday morning, every U.S.-bound passenger was subjected to a pat down and their luggage was inspected by hand. It took about three hours for travelers to get through the checks.
On one Air Canada flight from Toronto to New York's La Guardia Airport the crew told passengers before departure that in addition to remaining in their seats for the duration of one-hour flight, they were not allowed to use any electronic devices — even iPods — or their own headphones. The crew also told passengers that they would not be able to access their personal belongings because of the "enhanced security procedures."
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, television screens were tuned to the Atlanta Falcons football game, and some passengers were only faintly aware of Friday's incident in Detroit.
Jeff Fox, of Alpharetta, Ga., who was returning with his family from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. after a weeklong cruise, said he will tolerate new restrictions if officials think they will keep passengers safer.
"I'm one of those who trusts that they're trying to do the right thing, even if it is a pain," he said.
The incident Friday, however, continued to raise questions about security, said Jack Riepe, a spokesman for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.
Riepe said corporate travel managers want to know how Friday's suspect reached Detroit even though he was on a watch list maintained by counterterrorism experts. A government official said the suspect's father raised concerns about him to U.S. officials several weeks ago, but the father's information about his son's possible ties to fundamentalist Islamic groups was too vague to act upon.
U.S. airlines have been appealing to federal officials to make restrictions effective but palatable to passengers.
They remember that passengers accepted tough new security measures immediately after the 2001 terror attacks, which grounded all flights for several days, but that support for the restrictions waned.
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Ha Schiphol! I was once escorted to an interrogation room by a guy with a machine gun when the the metallic wrapper of a chocolate bar in my pocket set off an alarm.![]()
Sounds vaguely erotic. Did he give you the full pat down once he got you to your private interrogation room?![]()
I can't remember which comedian suggested this, but it seems timely: why can't the next terrorist plant his bomb on a crying baby so those get banned from flights?
If we ever want to get serious about airport security, we would follow the Israeli model: everybody gets screened quickly and efficiently. Every bag gets opened and searched quickly and efficiently. There is a chain of custody label for every bag you bring into the airport. If the bags don't match at any of the checkpoints, you get removed from the line and the bag is isolated. Fast. Professional. Effective. And you get to keep your shoes and underwear on.
Well he did say the body cavity search was mandatory!![]()
Amen. It's efficiently but I don't know about quickly. I heard it takes 3 hours. El Al airport. I believe they interrogate everyone and have never had an incident. They even give you a steak knife for your meal. The airline, that is, not the airport itself. I'm all for that but being that we like to baby people and want to be PC with every little thing it'll never happen here. Oh well.
Yes. I was on 2 separate 1 hour flights yesterday and on both I couldn't do anything.
Your new demonrat government at work.
Couldn't stop the guy, so they have to make life for everyone to make the scared pussies think they are doing something.
I'll bet most lib s think it will make a difference!
Must not be any lib s on ST. I don't see anyone defending this weak bs.
Well, like it or not, flying is a commercial service. It is not a right to fly.
Still, they are getting ridiculous just because they ed up, allowing that in a flight.
Really now, is an hour going to make a difference?
And for the record, I don't call all liberals lib s.
Of course not. The ones you agree with you call "conservative".
Well when your drinking at the bar in the airport and then have a couple on the flight, you need the option to piss when you need to. An hr could be a long freaking hr, then waiting to get off....
So, what happens if someone is reading a book and refuses to put it away. What exactly are they going to do to that person?
For contumaceous reading?
Detained and questioned? Arrested?
Watch-listed?
Who knows.
Any of these seem possible, though in principle it seems ridiculous to suggest that reading creates an intolerable disturbance in flight.
book 'emSo, what happens if someone is reading a book and refuses to put it away. What exactly are they going to do to that person?
Hopefully the TSA gets their together sooner than later. Right now, I am SO not looking forward to flying to SA from Sea-Tac on the 7th.
That's a 9.8. If you'd gone with "Throw the book at 'em", that would've been a perfect 10.
Awesome, more government intervention...
thanks alot bin laden
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