TSA Lets Boxcutters Through -- Times Three
Terrorists used them on 9/11, and TSA screeners let them through on 3/1/11. From a NYPost story by Philip Messing -- the guy had not one, but three boxcutters in his carry-on:
Agent Ahmir Wilkerson, supervisor Anthony DeJesus and at least one other screener allowed his carry-on luggage -- with the boxcutters with razor blades -- to pass through the X-ray machine, police sources said.Once aboard Santiago-bound Flight 837, flight attendant Fausto Penaloda, 40, asked him to stow his luggage in the overhead storage bin.
As Peraltalajara's shoved it into the compartment, Penaloda saw the boxcutters fall out of the bag, according to a police report.
He grabbed the boxcutters and alerted the captain and first officer.
They called JetBlue security, which raised the alarm to PAPD Emergency Service Units, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI, sparking an evacuation of the plane's 136 passengers and five crew members.
The PAPD's Canine Unit swept the plane for bombs and all of the passengers had to be rescreened.
Peraltalajara told authorities that he used the boxcutters for work at a Secaucus manufacturing plant and simply forgot that they were in his luggage. He was not charged with any crime.
The TSA spokeswoman Davis insisted that the traveling public was not at risk.
If not, then why do we need the TSA -- at least in its present form? This guy was not a risk, and box-cutters are not a risk, nor are three-food machetes, providing they are not in the hands of people who believe, per the Quran, that they need to slaughter the rest of us for Allah. Terrorists, not tweezers -- or box-cutters -- are what we should be looking for, and well before they board an airplane.
Last year in early 2010, I flew from NYC to Billings, Montana. In the seat in front of me, I noticed that an elderly woman was knitting. She had her needles out, simply knitting away. When we got to the luggage claim area in Billings, I couldn't help but ask her how she managed to get the needles through security - were they not something that should be packed in luggage? Her reply was that she'd been carrying her knitting on board for years, and it had never been an issue. Well good, I thought. This little old lady cleary was not a terrorist and just maybe TSA showed a little common sense.
But box-cutters??
Ally at March 2, 2011 8:43 AM
If you would all be so good as to ignore the irony of me pointing out a pelling error,
But I pretty sure you meant a three foot machete and not a three food machete
lujlp at March 2, 2011 9:32 AM
I had a coworker that does on-site training at various facilities. She's out about half the year on the road. She traveled with a laptop bag, for over year, that had a small sewing scissors sewn in the liner.
The TSA never caught it, and then when they did, they delayed her for 40 minutes. Then they finally let her through saying it was too small to matter.
The TSA standards are capricious, vindictive, wasteful, and a farce.
Jim P. at March 2, 2011 10:19 PM
I know it's just a typo but "three-food machetes" sounds like a new kitchen device. I can't wait to see the infomercial!
BlogDog at March 3, 2011 4:15 AM
Logic check:
Do not assume that if the TSA, or any agency replacing them, changes its emphasis from examining things to people that there will miraculously be a "zero" error rate.
The gain is in the dignity of a nation. The passengers know, now, what to do with an idiot with a weapon.
In speaking about the TSA, keep this foremost in your mind: police are not required to protect your person, no matter what the consequences.
Thus, neither can the TSA.
It's just a power show anyway.
Radwaste at March 4, 2011 7:05 AM
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