The TSA always finds a way to top itself when it comes to controversy, negative publicity, and most importantly, a degradation of human dignity. This time, it was by telling an elderly, disabled woman who lost her speech after a stroke that she could not fly because she could not say here name. This is no Onion story.
From the family’s side, we have a narrative that goes something like this—we have Heidi, a senior citizen who suffered a debilitating stroke rendering her unable to write or speak. Naturally, she had little use for a diver’s license anymore and it lapsed. Still, she had an expired picture ID and other non-picture identifying items.
The TSA clerk checking her boarding pass against her ID was incredulous that this wheelchair-bound woman could not speak, asking her repeatedly what her name was despite an explanation from family members and willingness to undergo additional screening.
She was denied. The TSA decided she was too grave a threat and she ended up taking a bus instead.
The TSA has since apologized—half-heartedly—but the damage is done.
The broader concern here (and one that I have expressed before) is that the security check alone is considered not enough, that somehow checking ID against ticket protects us from terrorism, one of the “many layers” of security the TSA is fond of boasting of.
No. While matching tickets to names is a boon to airline revenue protection, I contend that everyone who submits to airline security screening should be allowed to pass. Either we trust our full body scanners or we do not. The specter of requiring valid government-issued identification to travel internally in the USA remains a troubling constitutional issue to me as well, despite the present Administrative Search doctrine, and superfuflous to keeping airports safe.
But the thing is, the TSA gives its clerks some discretion in handling situations like this. Certainly, the clerk could have been more gracious—the apparent taunting is simply deplorable—but Heidi could have simply been wheeled off to the side or to a private area for an enhanced screening.
So the TSA again failed us. How sad that the government agency tasked with keeping U.S. airports safe is not even competent enough to treat a disabled passenger in a respectful way.
(tip of the hat to Gary)
Ah, LAX. I would have bet nearly anything that this had happened at PHL, but it makes just as much sense at the Los Angeles International Bus Station.
I flew from AKL-CHC earlier today. No ID required to get my BP from the check-in agent, no ID or BP check at security, and no ID check to board the plane. I even carried a full bottle of water through security. Amazingly, we did not crash!
Sad but, even sadder, not surprising. Everyone, myself included, has a story involve inept, incompetent, or just plain irrational TSA conduct. As much as people are up in arms about the costs of the Affordable Care Act, I am surprised that there isn’t the same outrage over the stunning amounts of tax payer dollars spent on TSA. Where is the value proposition?
This whole ‘say your name’ thing strikes me as plain stupid. You have my passport and face in front of you – why do you need me to pronounce my name? I’ve had this happen to me twice now, both times by a particularly TSA agent at JFK. Asking him why this was necessary got a wiseguy response of “do you want to get through?”