http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/...making-us-look-foolish?ncid=AOLCOMMtravdynlprTravel-Aol.com said:We're more watchful than ever, but now even the little things evoke big reactions.
Body Scanners. Lie detectors. Terror Watch Lists. We've put some of our most creative minds to the task of fighting terrorism at the airport and they've come up with some pretty compelling techniques to keep us safe. Experts say that more innovations are on the horizonsome even suggest that the lie detectors of the future will be akin to \"mind readers.\"
The goal is obviousto protect our nation. The disaster of 9/11, and more recent attempted terrorist attacks such as the botched bombing over Detroit, have taught us the importance of thinking a few steps ahead of those who would seek to harm us.
Some people are asking whether or not the heightened security procedures are breaching our privacy, but we felt it was time to ask a more mundane questionare we making ourselves look silly? Will this era go down in history as the time when we bravely protected our nation from danger, or overreacted on a large scale?
When all it takes to shut down an airport is a little honey and law-abiding nuns are winding up on terrorist watch lists, the question deserves some contemplation. We don't have an answer (we're leaving that up to youwrite and tell us what you think: [email protected]) and we're not suggesting that the TSA stop checking bags and scanning bodies, but we did think it was time to take a look at some of the most hilarious, over-the-top, \"non-threat\" security breaches in recent yearseven if they don't make you blush, they just might make you laugh.
\"Hazardous\" substance at Bakersfield airport turns out to be honey
Who knew that a little honey could bring an entire airport to a screeching halt? That's exactly what happened at the Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California, which was shut down when TSA agents encountered a passenger carrying a \"strange\" amber substance in Gatorade bottles. The screeners claimed that when the opened the bottles they smelled a \"strong chemical odor\", reported Travel Weekly on January 5th. According to Reuters, a combination of local sheriffs, fire crews, FBI agents, and members of a joint terrorism task force responded to the threat by pulling the passenger, 31-year-old Francisco Ramirez, aside for questioning until tests showed that the substance was no more than honey.
A couple in love shuts down Newark Airport
Love can cause you to do some crazy thingsin this case, it inspired a man to duck under the security rope at the Newark airport when the TSA guard wasn't looking to steal a few extra minutes with his lover before her flight took off. Big mistake. Newark authorities reacted swiftly to the security breach, evacuating thousands of people from the terminal, and firing the TSA employee who let his guard down. While we recognize that the situation needed to be dealt with, we wonder if it really required a full airport lockdown. Our friends at Gadling reported on the event.
Ill traveler detained for spending too much time in bathroom
Don't spend too much time in the bathroom aboard a flight or you may find yourself in a small room answering a lot of questions administered by a suspicious TSA agent. An ill passenger from Nigeria who passed a lot of time in the bathroom incited an anxious reaction from crewmembers who called in emergency forces to investigate the situation. The plane landed, passengers were evacuated, and armed officers and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in while the FBI interrogated the man.
Nun terrorized by \"Terror Watch List\"
The fact that there are whole articles dedicated to the subject of getting your name removed from a Terror Watch List should give us some indication of the issues with the lists. According to the Department of Homeland Security, over the past two years, 51,000 people have filed requests to be removed from the watch list. Wired magazine reported a particularly absurd case of a nun being \"terrorized\" by the terror watch. The nun in question was Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, who oversees Catholic education in the states. As part of her job, she travels the country speaking at conferences and working with the Department of Education. When her name wound up on a watch list, flying became a nightmare for her. It took her nine months to clear her name. Believe it or not, Sen. Edward Kennedy, suffered a similar indignity.
Men detained for watching movie
Police and federal agents were waiting for US Airways Flight 192 when it landed in Phoenix after flying in from Orlando. The agents were reacting to claims by passengers that two men were behaving suspiciously on the flight. So what exactly were they doing that was so suspicious? Watching a movie. The two men were absorbed in a scene from the 2007 action film The Kingdom. Some passengers saw the film and thought it was footage of a suicide bombing. FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson told WPTZ.com that \"a combination of behavior caused passengers to be concerned, including the men talking loudly and one man standing up when the stay-seated light was on. Johnson said the men, described to the FBI by passengers as being 'Middle Eastern' in appearance, were watching a movie clip of what appeared to be a suicide bomber.\"
Man looking for a shoeshine shuts down airport
A man in search of shoeshine didn't think it would be such a big deal to bypass a security checkpoint at the Boise Airport. Boy, was he wrong. According to the National Terror Alert, the man's impatience led to an 80-minute shutdown of the terminal, four delayed flights, and re-screening of at least 400 passengers. The man, a California native, could have faced six months in jail and fines of up to $3,000.
Airport shutdown blamed on perfume
Honey is not the only innocuous substance capable of shutting down airport operationsunidentified perfume has the same effect. Although the perfume event occurred back in August of 2004, we still think it's hilarious that a vial of perfume could cause the complete shutdown of Indiana's Fort Wayne International Airport for several hours. An American Airlines spokeswoman told CNN that the \"liquid spilled from a broken package on American's Flight 4271 from Chicago's O'Hare airport.\" All the more reason to secure your fragile goods before you fly.
Fan gets jail time for airport shutdown
Love and shoeshine are not the only two reasons why a man breaches security. Back in 2001 an avid sports fan breached security at the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport when he realized that he had lost his camera and was going to be late to board his flight to see a Georgia football game. Already through security, he left the secure area to search of his camera and then tried to sneak back in by running up a down escalator. The escapade led to five weekends in jail and 500 hours of community service. He was also banned from attending University of Georgia football games for a season, according to CBS News.
Band sticker causes airport shutdown
A fan of the punk band called \"This Bike is a Pipe Bomb\" probably thought it was cute to put a sticker of the band's name on his bike, but security authorities at a Memphis airport didn't get the joke. The bike, which was left chained outside of one of the airport's terminals, caused so much suspicion that it shut down the airport for a few hours while police investigated the bike. \"We established a perimeter around it and had a fire watch in case there was an explosion,\" said John Greaud, vice president of airport operations told boingboing.net. \"We had one of our K9 dogs confirm it was not an explosive.\"
im0790
Thoughts and opinions.
Some of them I find ridiculous and outrageous, like the guys watching the movie. The people breaching security should be subject to Darwinism and people shouldn't be bringing in gatoraid bottles of honey with them when there is a strict 3 oz or less liquid rule.
The ones that shouldn't have been a problem is the guy in the bathroom for a long time, he was clearly ill. The guys watching a movie, I mean anyone could have figured out it was a movie.
What do you guys think?
