Wedding Rings

airport security report

Question:

I flew Jan 4 MAD – JFK: Iberia JFK – SFO: AA I usually like to reconfirm my reservation a day before and so when I called Iberia in Madrid Jan 3, they told that I should be at the airport 4 hours before the flight. That’s right 4 hours! I thought that was a bit much so I decided to get there about 3.5 hours before. However, due to my packing taking longer than expected and the Mar de Cristal to Barajas metro line being closed for repairs without my knowledge, I arrived at Barajas about 3 hours before the flight. This was more than enough time, in spite of all the security checks. There were the usual picture ID checks as you passed the security scanners and before you boarded the plane. One thing about Iberia is that THEY DO NOT BOARD BY ROW NUMBER. Rather, about half hour before boarding time, people just start queueing to get onto the plane. Sounds like a pretty inefficient system to me. I surmise people want to get on the plane first so as to get overhead bin space. Upon arrival at JFK to catch the AA flight to SF, I still had to go through the security checks, which surprised me because I thought I would not have to do this on a connecting flight. At the security scanner station, I noticed that you had to have a boarding pass. Some passengers got irate because all they had was a printed copy of etickets and they wanted to get the boarding pass at the gate and they were NOT allowed to pass. When boarding commenced, AA was doing random checks. As you boarded the plane you had to show your boarding pass and a picture ID. The attendant then put your ticket through the machine and the machine would RANDOMLY flash some lights indicating that a random check would be performed on the passenger. This random check consisted of inspecting any carryon luggage and inspecting shoes. It’s funny because as I started boarding the plane, all of a sudden the machine seems to have gone bonkers because it started flagging everyone for random checks, which meant they had to go to another line to be searched, etc. The inspectors themselves got pretty irritated and told some of the flagged customers to have the ticket scanned again and this time they went thru without a hitch. They’re trying but as you would expect, there are a lot of glitches and inconsistencies right now. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I > know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I > would report. > On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from > Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with > a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit > more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to > "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain > that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to > remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm > ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags > are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick > them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of > all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag > inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will > certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. > Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian > husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never > happened before! > After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up > even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met > people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a > domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got > to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned > out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time > necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people > who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were > very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. > We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags > were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on > departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort > of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this > was to check for traces of plastic explosives. > I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no > checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. > Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the > AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I > looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I > saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would > hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m > wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > At least all of the extra security is reassuring. > Barbara

Response:

> Some airport security checkpoints have been asking passengers to drink

We took a trip to Paris on Sept. 18th and were thoroughly checked here (US) including verifying if our water bottles were "Sealed", if not they were to be confiscated – we had just refilled them at the tap so they looked filled and we kept them. As to Paris, we were not checked at all and walked right through customs without anyone around to stop us – maybe it was our decision to follow the military guy who was holding a sub machine gun – in any case Paris was (and is) the greatest city on earth..

Response:

>Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing >Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when >realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. >Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

 That is a completely unfair statement.  I think you need to look up the meaning of racism in your dictionary.  Barbara’s concerns were based upon factual threats to western travelers.   Paul

Response:

> Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing > Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when > realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. > Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

…And of course, you are not?  It’s a sad fact of human nature that, however "unprejudiced" we may consider ourselves, we are all at least AWARE of racial/ethnic/cultural differences, when they are visible. We may refuse to let them influence our thinking about a particular category of difference, but it is a conscious act (as was Barbara’s in forcing herself to accept her misgivings about her presumed fellow passengers, without protest.)  We can control what we DO, we cannot always control what we FEEL.  And momentary uneasiness is hardly the same as refusing to fly with Arab-American passengers (as happened with that Northwest flight, shortly after the 9/11 incident), or detaining an Arab-American secret-service agent (an American Airlines faux pas that hit the news here last week).

Response:

> We took a trip to Paris on Sept. 18th and were thoroughly checked here (US) > including verifying if our water bottles were "Sealed", if not they were to > be confiscated – we had just refilled them at the tap so they looked filled > and we kept them. As to Paris, we were not checked at all and walked right > through customs without anyone around to stop us – maybe it was our decision > to follow the military guy who was holding a sub machine gun – in any case > Paris was (and is) the greatest city on earth..

Why would they run careful checks when you were LEAVING a flight?  The possible threat lies with boarding, not departing, passengers.

Response:

Hey Evelyn: Timely article in the "Washington Post Magazine" today (12/30) about the Al Qaeda cell in Manila that had been plotting to blow up eleven airliners over the Pacific in 1995. Long story of course, but essentially they had a dry run of their scheme by planting a bomb "that ripped through a Boeing 747 Philippine airliner, killing a Japanese passenger and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing" (page 27).  What’s interesting here is further along in the story: "Yousef (one of the terrorists) had indeed been responsible for the blast aboard the Philippine airliner, which was actually a dry run to test the terrorists’ new generation of nitroglycerin explosive. Yousef had deposited his device-lethal liquid concealed in a CONTACT LENS SOLUTION BOTTLE with cotton ball stabilizing agents and a harmless looking wristwatch wrapped around it-under seat 27F on the Manila to Cebu leg of the flight to Tokyo".(page 27)  The whole story can probably be found at washingtonpost.com. An interesting read. Doug Burke – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. > ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water > – can be easily enough verified.  What purpose would > "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening > substance did you think might be carried on in a water > bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?  If there > were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply > asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal > that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with > immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" > explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests > something pliable, like modeling clay. > Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or > carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not > trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when > some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ > luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as > (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might > be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached > our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If > you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of > lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot > immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some > sort of sterile saline solution.)

Response:

> >  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. > ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water > – can be easily enough verified.

Exactly my point. No check whatsoever. Zero. From personal experience carry on bottles were being allowed with no verification as to what was inside as late as Sept. 18 when we carried on two bottles of water on a flight from Zurich to Washington. Oh, and Evelyn, the drink test would have been great, but my point is no one asked me to take a swig. > What purpose would > "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening > substance did you think might be carried on in a water > bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?

Maybe I missed something here,  but didn’t you just answer your own question? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> If there > were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply > asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal > that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with > immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" > explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests > something pliable, like modeling clay. > Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or > carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not > trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when > some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ > luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as > (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might > be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached > our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If > you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of > lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot > immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some > sort of sterile saline solution.).

Who would have thought this time a week ago we’d be taking off our shoes for inspection. It’s a crazy world we live in.Doug Burke

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > <snip> >Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > <snip> > Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing > Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when > realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. > Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

I wouldn’t say I was trembling with fear, just somewhat anxious, and I was surprised at my anxiety. Fear is a very powerful emotion. I have rarely in my life had such suspicions based on a person’s appearance. I lived for many years in urban neighborhoods in the US, including Harlem, and sometimes in neighborhoods (in North Philadelphia) where I was the only white person. I walked around these neighborhoods freely by day and by night without any qualms. Do you think you are totally without prejudices? My former husband was black and my two daughters are of mixed race, so I have known prejudice close up, when my own children were the victims. I have met any number of well-meaning but prejudiced people and have learned to give them credit for their efforts and hope that their good intentions will win out in the end. I have never met in my life anyone who was entirely pure in this respect, and I think you delude yourself if you think you are the exception. The best thing you can do is to honestly examine yourself in all your dealings with other human beings and try to make your actions conform to your better instincts. This is what I tried to do at the airport. Some of the most racist people I have ever known were those who insisted they had no prejudices. Barbara

Response:

>  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass.

ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water – can be easily enough verified.  What purpose would "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening substance did you think might be carried on in a water bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?  If there were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests something pliable, like modeling clay. Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some sort of sterile saline solution.)

Response:

<snip> >Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all.

<snip> Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

Response:

Some airport security checkpoints have been asking passengers to drink from bottles they are trying to carry on board.  Apparently some chemicals used for chem weapons are odorless and clear…like water. And this has been the case since October/ early November– not just the result of the latest shoe-bomb scare. Good question about medications–this is just a guess, but I bet the best thing is to bring them in original containers with pharmacy labels, even for travel within the US. And for stuff like saline solution and OTC stuff, it’s probably safest/quickest if you carried sealed, unopened boxes and containers whenever possible.

Response:

>We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags >were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on >departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort >of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this >was to check for traces of plastic explosives. >At least all of the extra security is reassuring.

I was checked at LaGuardia last night and had my shoes and carryon bag swiped for chemical testing. I think that this is the single greatest inmprovement in airport secuity in 20 years as I have been very vocal in the past about the inability of security to catch platic explosives. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Barbara

Response:

Thanks for the fine update Barbara. Like yourself I think it’s better to show up what may turn out to be too early than end up running frantically toward the gate. Better to go get a cup of coffee and read a book.  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. Doug Burke – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I > know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I > would report. > On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from > Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with > a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit > more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to > "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain > that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to > remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm > ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags > are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick > them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of > all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag > inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will > certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. > Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian > husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never > happened before! > After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up > even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met > people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a > domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got > to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned > out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time > necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people > who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were > very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. > We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags > were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on > departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort > of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this > was to check for traces of plastic explosives. > I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no > checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. > Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the > AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I > looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I > saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would > hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m > wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > At least all of the extra security is reassuring. > Barbara

Response:

My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I would report. On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never happened before! After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this was to check for traces of plastic explosives. I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. At least all of the extra security is reassuring. Barbara

Response:

My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I would report. On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never happened before! After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this was to check for traces of plastic explosives. I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. At least all of the extra security is reassuring. Barbara

Response:

>We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags >were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on >departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort >of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this >was to check for traces of plastic explosives. >At least all of the extra security is reassuring.

I was checked at LaGuardia last night and had my shoes and carryon bag swiped for chemical testing. I think that this is the single greatest inmprovement in airport secuity in 20 years as I have been very vocal in the past about the inability of security to catch platic explosives. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Barbara

Response:

Thanks for the fine update Barbara. Like yourself I think it’s better to show up what may turn out to be too early than end up running frantically toward the gate. Better to go get a cup of coffee and read a book.  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. Doug Burke – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I > know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I > would report. > On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from > Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with > a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit > more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to > "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain > that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to > remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm > ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags > are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick > them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of > all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag > inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will > certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. > Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian > husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never > happened before! > After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up > even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met > people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a > domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got > to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned > out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time > necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people > who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were > very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. > We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags > were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on > departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort > of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this > was to check for traces of plastic explosives. > I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no > checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. > Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the > AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I > looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I > saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would > hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m > wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > At least all of the extra security is reassuring. > Barbara

Response:

>  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass.

ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water – can be easily enough verified.  What purpose would "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening substance did you think might be carried on in a water bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?  If there were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests something pliable, like modeling clay. Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some sort of sterile saline solution.)

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Some airport security checkpoints have been asking passengers to drink from bottles they are trying to carry on board.  Apparently some chemicals used for chem weapons are odorless and clear…like water. And this has been the case since October/ early November– not just the result of the latest shoe-bomb scare. Good question about medications–this is just a guess, but I bet the best thing is to bring them in original containers with pharmacy labels, even for travel within the US. And for stuff like saline solution and OTC stuff, it’s probably safest/quickest if you carried sealed, unopened boxes and containers whenever possible.

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<snip> >Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all.

<snip> Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > <snip> >Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > <snip> > Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing > Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when > realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. > Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

I wouldn’t say I was trembling with fear, just somewhat anxious, and I was surprised at my anxiety. Fear is a very powerful emotion. I have rarely in my life had such suspicions based on a person’s appearance. I lived for many years in urban neighborhoods in the US, including Harlem, and sometimes in neighborhoods (in North Philadelphia) where I was the only white person. I walked around these neighborhoods freely by day and by night without any qualms. Do you think you are totally without prejudices? My former husband was black and my two daughters are of mixed race, so I have known prejudice close up, when my own children were the victims. I have met any number of well-meaning but prejudiced people and have learned to give them credit for their efforts and hope that their good intentions will win out in the end. I have never met in my life anyone who was entirely pure in this respect, and I think you delude yourself if you think you are the exception. The best thing you can do is to honestly examine yourself in all your dealings with other human beings and try to make your actions conform to your better instincts. This is what I tried to do at the airport. Some of the most racist people I have ever known were those who insisted they had no prejudices. Barbara

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> >  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. > ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water > – can be easily enough verified.

Exactly my point. No check whatsoever. Zero. From personal experience carry on bottles were being allowed with no verification as to what was inside as late as Sept. 18 when we carried on two bottles of water on a flight from Zurich to Washington. Oh, and Evelyn, the drink test would have been great, but my point is no one asked me to take a swig. > What purpose would > "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening > substance did you think might be carried on in a water > bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?

Maybe I missed something here,  but didn’t you just answer your own question? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> If there > were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply > asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal > that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with > immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" > explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests > something pliable, like modeling clay. > Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or > carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not > trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when > some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ > luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as > (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might > be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached > our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If > you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of > lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot > immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some > sort of sterile saline solution.).

Who would have thought this time a week ago we’d be taking off our shoes for inspection. It’s a crazy world we live in.Doug Burke

Response:

> Some airport security checkpoints have been asking passengers to drink

We took a trip to Paris on Sept. 18th and were thoroughly checked here (US) including verifying if our water bottles were "Sealed", if not they were to be confiscated – we had just refilled them at the tap so they looked filled and we kept them. As to Paris, we were not checked at all and walked right through customs without anyone around to stop us – maybe it was our decision to follow the military guy who was holding a sub machine gun – in any case Paris was (and is) the greatest city on earth..

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>Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing >Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when >realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. >Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

 That is a completely unfair statement.  I think you need to look up the meaning of racism in your dictionary.  Barbara’s concerns were based upon factual threats to western travelers.   Paul

Response:

> Regardless of 9/11, the image of this woman trembling in fear upon seeing > Arab passengers at an airport, and then breathing a sigh of relief when > realizing they’re not on her plane is a little sickening. > Well, at least she seems to be (semi-) aware that she’s racist….

…And of course, you are not?  It’s a sad fact of human nature that, however "unprejudiced" we may consider ourselves, we are all at least AWARE of racial/ethnic/cultural differences, when they are visible. We may refuse to let them influence our thinking about a particular category of difference, but it is a conscious act (as was Barbara’s in forcing herself to accept her misgivings about her presumed fellow passengers, without protest.)  We can control what we DO, we cannot always control what we FEEL.  And momentary uneasiness is hardly the same as refusing to fly with Arab-American passengers (as happened with that Northwest flight, shortly after the 9/11 incident), or detaining an Arab-American secret-service agent (an American Airlines faux pas that hit the news here last week).

Response:

> We took a trip to Paris on Sept. 18th and were thoroughly checked here (US) > including verifying if our water bottles were "Sealed", if not they were to > be confiscated – we had just refilled them at the tap so they looked filled > and we kept them. As to Paris, we were not checked at all and walked right > through customs without anyone around to stop us – maybe it was our decision > to follow the military guy who was holding a sub machine gun – in any case > Paris was (and is) the greatest city on earth..

Why would they run careful checks when you were LEAVING a flight?  The possible threat lies with boarding, not departing, passengers.

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Hey Evelyn: Timely article in the "Washington Post Magazine" today (12/30) about the Al Qaeda cell in Manila that had been plotting to blow up eleven airliners over the Pacific in 1995. Long story of course, but essentially they had a dry run of their scheme by planting a bomb "that ripped through a Boeing 747 Philippine airliner, killing a Japanese passenger and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing" (page 27).  What’s interesting here is further along in the story: "Yousef (one of the terrorists) had indeed been responsible for the blast aboard the Philippine airliner, which was actually a dry run to test the terrorists’ new generation of nitroglycerin explosive. Yousef had deposited his device-lethal liquid concealed in a CONTACT LENS SOLUTION BOTTLE with cotton ball stabilizing agents and a harmless looking wristwatch wrapped around it-under seat 27F on the Manila to Cebu leg of the flight to Tokyo".(page 27)  The whole story can probably be found at washingtonpost.com. An interesting read. Doug Burke – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->  Regarding the new security standards, I’ve often wondered why they have not > banned carry on containers carring some type of liquid. This first occurred > to me five years ago as we are sitting in the Rome airport and across from > me is a guy with a bottle of Evian water. He looked, acted, and appeared > perfectly normal of course and nothing he did gave me cause for concern but > as I looked at the bottle I just caught myself wondering why a carry on like > that had not been banned as no one knows WHAT is in the bottle. It may now > be of course along with box cutters, but if not, I hope it comes to pass. > ALL liquids?  If there’s any doubt, most – like Evian water > – can be easily enough verified.  What purpose would > "banning" them serve?  Out of curiosity, what threatening > substance did you think might be carried on in a water > bottle?  Petrol or kerosene?  Some kind of acid?  If there > were any suspicion of its being a toxic substance, simply > asking the owner to drink some of it would quickly reveal > that, one way or another!  (Either he’d drink it with > immediate and obvious ill effects, or run.)(;-D}  "Plastic" > explosive is not a liquid, is it?  The term suggests > something pliable, like modeling clay. > Some of us carry liquid medications in our pockets and/or > carry-on baggage – things upon which we depend, and dare not > trust to the vagaries of baggage checking (especially when > some airlines have a reputation for losing passengers’ > luggage).  Even something so simple and basic as > (non-prescription) saline solution for contact lenses might > be difficult to replace at a moment’s notice when we reached > our destination, and what if it were required enroute?  (If > you’ve ever worn them, you know that an eyelash or piece of > lint in your eye can cause major distress, if you cannot > immediately remove and clean the lens – which requires some > sort of sterile saline solution.)

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I flew Jan 4 MAD – JFK: Iberia JFK – SFO: AA I usually like to reconfirm my reservation a day before and so when I called Iberia in Madrid Jan 3, they told that I should be at the airport 4 hours before the flight. That’s right 4 hours! I thought that was a bit much so I decided to get there about 3.5 hours before. However, due to my packing taking longer than expected and the Mar de Cristal to Barajas metro line being closed for repairs without my knowledge, I arrived at Barajas about 3 hours before the flight. This was more than enough time, in spite of all the security checks. There were the usual picture ID checks as you passed the security scanners and before you boarded the plane. One thing about Iberia is that THEY DO NOT BOARD BY ROW NUMBER. Rather, about half hour before boarding time, people just start queueing to get onto the plane. Sounds like a pretty inefficient system to me. I surmise people want to get on the plane first so as to get overhead bin space. Upon arrival at JFK to catch the AA flight to SF, I still had to go through the security checks, which surprised me because I thought I would not have to do this on a connecting flight. At the security scanner station, I noticed that you had to have a boarding pass. Some passengers got irate because all they had was a printed copy of etickets and they wanted to get the boarding pass at the gate and they were NOT allowed to pass. When boarding commenced, AA was doing random checks. As you boarded the plane you had to show your boarding pass and a picture ID. The attendant then put your ticket through the machine and the machine would RANDOMLY flash some lights indicating that a random check would be performed on the passenger. This random check consisted of inspecting any carryon luggage and inspecting shoes. It’s funny because as I started boarding the plane, all of a sudden the machine seems to have gone bonkers because it started flagging everyone for random checks, which meant they had to go to another line to be searched, etc. The inspectors themselves got pretty irritated and told some of the flagged customers to have the ticket scanned again and this time they went thru without a hitch. They’re trying but as you would expect, there are a lot of glitches and inconsistencies right now. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > My husband and I have just returned to Italy from a visit to the US. I > know many have asked about airport delays and security, so I thought I > would report. > On our outbound trip, everything went very smoothly. Our flight from > Ancona to Rome was a little late, and an Alitalia attendant met us with > a mini-train to take us to our departure gate. The security was a bit > more thorough and the metal detectors seemed to have been turned to > "super-sensitive". I had to return to remove my watch and a small chain > that have never made alarms go off before. Then I had to return again to > remove my wedding ring! I saw people who had zippers that made the alarm > ring. Of course, while you are stripping yourself of metal, your bags > are sitting on the conveyor belt where someone might be able to pick > them up and make off with them. On my return trip, I stripped myself of > all metal before arriving at security and put it all in a little bag > inside my purse. That way I got through on the first try. This will > certainly help you avoid delays for yourself and those behind you. > Immigration and customs at Kennedy were a breeze. For once my Italian > husband finished immigration before me and had to wait for me! Never > happened before! > After we arrived, the "shoe bomb" guy was nabbed and things tightened up > even more. My daughter, who flew from Detroit to Newark on the 19th met > people who had missed flights the day before because two hours for a > domestic flight turned out not to be sufficient. On our way back, we got > to the airport three and half hours before our flight and that turned > out to be fine, even a bit too much. It’s hard to gauge the time > necessary but better too early than too late. We saw a number of people > who were asked to remove their shoes, but no one asked us. There were > very careful passport checks at least three times before boarding. > We put all metal objects in our checked baggage and our carryon bags > were not hand checked. My husband’s laptop was carefully checked on > departure although not on the outbound trip. He said they put some sort > of substance on the case and then put it in a machine. He thinks this > was to check for traces of plastic explosives. > I saw a guy check in for the flight from New York to Milan who had no > checked baggage and only a small, half-empty gym bag as carryon luggage. > Since this was said to be one of the things that should have alerted the > AA staff in Paris for the shoe-bomb guy, I was a bit worried. Later, I > looked around the gate area to see if he had made it to our flight. I > saw him, asleep in his seat. I decided that a suicide bomber would > hardly fall sleep before his flight, so I stopped worrying. Maybe I’m > wrong, but it worked for me. Coincidentally, at the gate for the flight > to NY I couldn’t help feeling a little alarmed when I saw a number of > apparently Arab passengers seated at the gate area. I felt ashamed of my > prejudice, but I couldn’t resist the fear. Then I thought that suicide > bombers would hardly travel with wives and mothers. Finally, I noticed > that there was a flight for Kuwait leaving from the same gate an hour > after ours, and realized they were probably not on our flight at all. > At least all of the extra security is reassuring. > Barbara

Response:

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