Oh, joy
According to NBC News, when agents of the Transportation Security Administration attempted to smuggle bombs through 21 different airport security screeners, all 21 got through.
In all 21 airports tested, no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through. Even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags, no one discovered the materials.
Perhaps, just perhaps, we should have focused on this sort of stuff in the first place rather than on nail clippers and Swiss Army Knives. We are safer now not because we have to take our shoes off, but because A) passengers and crew are much more cognizant of the potential dangers, and B) cockpit doors are reinforced.
We don’t have to worry about someone using a screwdriver or even a box cutter and taking over an airplane nearly as much as we have to worry about bombs that passengers and crew would have no hope of stopping.
Leland says:
This is a wee bit scary and really annoying if you’ve ever been detoured into the “extra scrutiny” line.
This makes me remember all those times I’ve been culled from the heard and taken to the side simply because I was a last minute one way ticket holder.
A friendly TSA agent searches every part of me from my shoes to my hat. While standing in the “special area” off to the side while TSA agents wait for my computer to boot, everyone else looks at you wondering why you got the extra attention.
And let’s not forget all those nifty notes from the TSA thanking me honor and privilege of going through my suitcase. (To this day I still wonder what the screener in Las Vegas is doing with those two pair of dirty underwear..)
All of this would be a lot easier to swallow if I thought it was doing some good toward air travel safety. Now I’m just plain mad.