Yesterday I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new enhanced pat downs being ineffective, providing commentary from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anti-terrorism expert. The DHS expert detailed how someone could potentially smuggle explosives through both the new whole-body-imaging scanners and discussed technology under development that could identify concealed items. After posting the…
For the past few months the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been testing the new ‘enhanced pat down’ at airports around the United States, before implementing this new security measure at every airport under its authority. The ‘enhanced pat down’ is in place primarily for airline travelers who choose to ‘opt out’ of being screened…
The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new security procedures are ruffling a lot of feathers. These procedures include the roll out of the new whole-body-imaging scanners … and for those who “opt out” of the scanners, the experience of an ‘enhanced pat down.’ These two options are upsetting airline passengers throughout the United States. Many dislike…
Generally I don’t respond to unsigned reader mail sent to me from bogus GMail accounts … but today I am making an exception. Why am I making an exception? Well today’s Reader Mail comes from “A Concerned Reader” … and the IP address associated with the “A Concerned Reader” email is the same IP address…
Readers frequently write me complaining of their interactions with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) front line Transportation Security Officers (TSO). For the most part over the past few years my interactions with the TSA’s front line agents have been generally been fairly uneventful … even pleasant at times … although I knew at some point…
With the implementation of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “enhanced pat down” screening process last week many travelers have complained that they feel violated by the TSA Transportation Security Officer’s (TSO) touching their body. With the new ‘enhanced pat down’ TSOs are allowed to placed their hands, palms forward, between a travelers legs, touch a…
This coming Monday, the 8th of November, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to announce that it will prohibit airline passengers from flying with printer ink and toner cartridges, sized at 16oz by volume or larger. This will be Security Directive (SD) 1554-10-05. As of this evening, the TSA appears to be working on the…
With all the negative press related to of aviation security and by extension the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over the past week, today I’d like to step back and discuss what the TSA is doing to make air travel safer … taking a look back over the month. The TSA’s primary mission, in response to…
Over the past few years the topic of “Security Theater” has come up more often than passengers complaining about checked baggage fees. The inconsistencies surrounding passenger security often makes for a quick sound bite on the news, or a one liner quote in print (and online) stories because it is generally an easy topic to…
This past Friday, the 29th of October 2010, as details of a foiled plot to ship bombs via commercial cargo carriers I wrote about “Air Cargo Security Scares From Yemen, Shows Of Political Force & Real Potential Scenarios.” As events have continued to unfold I have continued to receive some interesting commentary from people with…
