Has the U.S. met its match in airport-security craziness? Plus: NASA's pilot survey coverup.

[babylonsister]

Has the U.S. met its match in airport-security craziness? Plus: NASA's pilot survey coverup.

By Patrick Smith
Pages 1 2


Ask the Pilot

Nov. 2, 2007 | Come to find out, America is not the only crazy country when it comes to airport security. Based on what happened to me in London a few days ago, I'd say the U.K. is a close runner-up. Working a trip from Gatwick, I was forced to remove my shoes and put my liquids into a Ziploc bag. This is routine for passengers, but I was in full uniform at a crew-only checkpoint. My Rollaboard and flight case were hand-searched top to bottom, and a nearly empty, 5-ounce tube of toothpaste was confiscated from my toiletries bag.

The Brits are jittery, and not entirely without reason. The 2006 liquid bomb cabal (daft as its scheme may have been) was organized here, and it wasn't that long ago that Pan Am 103 lifted off from Heathrow with its deadly Toshiba radio. I'm willing to grant some slack, but I draw the line at seizing empty containers from pilots.

"Why are you taking that?" I ask the guard. "There's almost nothing in there."

"I don't know that for sure," she replies. "I can't tell how much is inside."

The rule is 100 milliliters. I stare down at the rolled and emaciated tube. It can't contain more than three brushings' worth of paste. I wanted to ask this woman how she could say a thing like that and continue to take herself, and her job, seriously.

Still, though, while it's tempting to award first prize to our European cousins, it's our own United States that retains the crown for loopiest behavior. Any argument was put to rest earlier this fall, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security presented the latest version of its "Secure Flight" anti-terrorism program, requesting that governments hand over a docket of personal data on all foreign airline passengers bound for the United States. (This would affect not only commercial flights arriving in the United States but those merely overflying U.S. territory -- an Air Canada plane, say, flying between Toronto and the Caribbean.) This data may include, among other things, a flier's union affiliations, reading preferences and -- look it up yourself if you don't believe me -- sexual habits. What somebody's sex life might have to do with blowing up a plane is something I can't begin to fathom; how any government might actually get wind of this information is even more troubling. Fortunately, others feel the same way, and the details of this proposal have provoked the ire of certain lawmakers. It remains to be seen how much of it becomes policy.

This would be the second dose of bad press for the Homeland Security hacks in recent weeks. Last month, you might remember, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA is a branch of DHS) got a media scolding after it came to light that TSA airport screeners had failed to detect up to 75 percent of phony bomb components smuggled through terminal checkpoints during tests.

more...

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/11/02/askthepilot252/

[Karenina]

1. The bit with the supervisor is a HOOT!

:rofl: