For years I have been preaching about the lack of critical thinking and common sense that characterized the Transportation Security Administration’s choice to roll out full-body scanners at airports nationwide. I have pointed out that the machines were never...
Women Forced to Drive to Denver Because No Female TSA Agent on Duty?
Note the question mark–when I first head about the story, I rolled my eyes and commented, “The TSA did it again,” but there is a question as to who was at fault. A Littleton woman said she missed her...
TSA Find Bomb, Leaves it Behind, Prompts Bomb Scare
Security analyst Bruce Schneider, a fierce critic of the TSA, brings us another example of the agency’s (in)competence: TSA screener finds two pipes in passenger’s bags. Screener determines that they’re not a threat. Screener confiscates them anyway, because of...
Senator Rand Paul Detained by the TSA for Refusing Invasive Patdown
I want to be careful not to blow this story out of proportion, but there is a key point we can take away from today’s incident at Nashville Airport in which Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was temporarily detained by...
TSA Carry-On Policy: Guns Yes, Cupcakes No
If the Transportation Security Administration was a Shakespeare play, it would be A Comedy of Errors. In an apparent case of mistaken identity and astounding sloppiness, an x-ray scanner picked up a .38-caliber revolver in a passenger’s carry-on baggage...
The TSA Shows Their Humane Side
I am usually very critical of the Transportation Security Administration and will continue to be critical as I observe the out-of-control agency wasting tax dollars. But I am also a fair person, and will give them praise when praise...
TSA Defends Confiscation of Cupcake
After facing a barrage of media criticism for an agent’s decision to confiscate a cupcake from a woman’s carry-on baggage at New York La Guardia airport on Christmas Eve, the Transportation Security Administration dug in and defended the action....
Congressional Bill to "Strip" TSA Screeners of "Officer" Title
I concede that Congress has more important matters to worry about than the proper designation for a Transportation Security Administration clerk, but I have to applaud Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn’s attempt to roll back the “officer” designation, costume, and badge...
EU Bans Full Body Scanners While USA Embraces Them
The European Union banned a variant of full body scanners (used extensively in the U.S. by the Transportation Security Administration) this week at the airports of all 27 member states, “[I]n order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and...
TSA Spots Concealed Knife in Carry-On Bag at Newark Airport!
Stop the presses! Stop the presses! The Wall Street Journal brings us this groundbeaking accomplishment of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA): NEWARK, N.J. — A Transportation Security Administration screener at a New Jersey airport spotted a knife concealed in...
TSA SPOT Program Wastes Time and Money
The Transportation Security Administration is actively testing its new Israeli-style interrogation program at Boston’s Logan Airport. The new screening method is part of the TSA’s SPOT (Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique) initiative that began in 2001, encompasses the...
Bribed TSA Officer Conspires with Drug Smuggler at LAX…9 Times!
I wish I could say I am surprised, but I am not: a Transportation Security Administration Officer at Los Angeles International Airport was busted on Sunday for aiding and abetting a drug smuggler sneak 15lbs of marijuana past security....
Airport Security Screening of the Future
A little blurb on airport passengers screening in the Washington Post caught my eye today: AMSTERDAM — The airline industry has presented its vision for a security ‘checkpoint of the future,’ which would speed up safety checks by sorting...
Obama’s Deficit Plan = Higher Airfare
Part of President Obama’s recently announced deficit reduction plan includes a provision that will double security fees on tickets, increasing the price of a round-trip ticket by up to $20. While I agree that airport security should be styled...
TSA Plays Politics, Changes Children Screening Policy
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently announced that children will no longer be required to remove their shoes at airport security checkpoints and also will not be subject to pat-down searches. Instead, their hands will be swabbed for...
The Photograph the TSA Doesn’t Want You to See!
As we near the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Live and Let’s Fly will feature a series of posts in the coming the days focusing on how travel has changed over the last decade. Today, I want to...
Germany Rejects Airport Full Body Scanners
When you are evaluating the acquisition of new technology how do you determine whether it will be a good fit? Do you just buy it without testing it, as the U.S. did in the case of airport full body...
Just Another Bad Apple at the TSA
While I do not derive any sort of pleasure from blogging about Transportation Security Administration officers constantly being busted for breaking the law, there is a reason I choose to cover these sorts of stories. After blogging about the...
TSA Officer Indicted for Stealing $23,000 Worth of Watches at LAX
While the official Transportation Security Administration motto might be “not on my watch,” the more apt phrase is “that’s my watch” after another TSA Officer was indicted for stealing last week. Paul Yashou, a now disgraced ex-TSO at LAX,...
TSA Hints at New Behavior Detection Plan
Could the Transportation Security Administration be moving toward the Israelification of airport passenger screening? Currently, the TSA stations Behavior Detection Officers (BDOs) at 161 airports across the country that look for psychological or physiological signs that a passenger may be...
