Interesting encounter with a TSA agent

[No Delay]

We had an interesting encounter with a TSA agent this morning. Apparently, he was a supervisor or at least higher than the guys at the metal detectors.

When we arrived at the airplane (dark:30) this morning...he was there inspecting the airplane. He then wanted to board and observe the flight attendant and asked several questions about the flight deck.

The capt. contacted company...and they had never heard of anyone from TSA doing that. The capt then stopped him until he contacted our company and we got some type of approval (which seemed to make the guy nervous). Of course, he did contact the company while we were all together and explained who he was and what he was doing.

We checked our company manual and could not find any mention of a TSA agent having access to the airplane.

My impression was this guy was just impressed by his badge was looking for ways to show it to other people.

Any takes on this? Any experiences like this?

 

[Mike man]

I've heard of way high up TSA Inspectors walking around airport ramps and observing pax loading and unloading. These inspectors are the ones who can fine you for walking around without SIDA bagdes. Also they have Deptatment of Homeland Security ID (they look like FBI, Secret Service or FFDO ID).

 

[Erlanger]

I vaguely remmeber something to the fact that a TSA agent may board an aircraft to inspect, if the cabin door is already open, regardless of whether anyone is onboard. They may not open the door themselves. Same thing with cargo; if the cargo door(s) are already open, TSA my inspect inside. They also can't surcumvent that by asking someone else, like a ramper to open the door and then go inside. It has to already be opened when they show up at the airplane. Same thing with access panels; they may not open any panels on an aircraft. They can inspect inside if that panel is already open.

 

[lookin4better]

Sounds like your right......seems like he is looking to be a hero by finding things he isnt even trainied to do.Theres nothing wrong with going above and beyond.......but making stuff up and stepping out of his authority ( which i dont know for sure if he did) warrants a complaint to both your comapny and his supervisor.

Im sure he does not know the exact duties ot the FA/ or the flight crew and has ZERO authority to critique/inspect this process. I guess we dont know what type of other duties and responsibilites have been placed on them.......

but id kick him off the airplane until he can show me in writing what he is doing.....see ya deputy dog......btw where did this happen?

 

[FmrFreightDog]

Curious. Was he a uniformed guy or a suit and tie guy? Some of the suit and tie guys are LEOs, I think. At any rate, it's strange.

 

[No Delay]

He was suit and tie. Had the FBI looking ID.

He was nice about everything. We showed him that our manual didn't give TSA access to the cockpit (from our jumpseat section - it was all I could find at the moment). He agreed and said they could not enter the cockpit.

After he talked with company, he said he had seen enough and was gone.

Like I said, he was nice and it really wasn't an issue. Just strange.

When you do this just about everyday over the past several years and have never seen or heard of this being done...just caught us as strange.

 

[Speedtape]

Unfortunately, we are not always kept in the loop. TSA has a broad range of authority and can do many things that are not in our manuals. One can appreciate that mission if the reasonableness rule and the need is justifiable. If there is no reasonable cause to exercise some of those broad authorities, then the authority can be easily abused. You have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, over time, their authority will become less broad. Report it to your company in writing so there is a paper trail and request the reason this TSA agent was exercising this authority. There should be an answer if his actions were legitimate and within the boundaries of his authority.

 

[pacsky72]

Sounds like he might have been testing your willingness to let someone on without doing your homework. Perhaps if you had NOT called company nor referenced your manuals he would have had a problem.

 

[CFIT]

Think about it, half those TSA d!pshts wouldn't know a security problem if it ran them over. They are just a bunch of losers that are too lazy and stupid to work at Wendy's. I had the same thing happen, two TSA dorks wanted on board to do an "inspection". I told them there is nothing I know of in our manuals and that I would check on it and let them know, after 25 minutes of waiting at the bottom of the stairs they gave up and left.

 

[DrProc]

Next time have the gate agents call the airport police and watch a turf war break out.

 

[Flyin2low]

Ever been to Canada?

 

[pgcfii2002]

Next time this happens just punch him in the face real hard and run away.

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

Next time this happens just punch him in the face real hard and run away.

Excellent advice. I laughed, because that's the same advice I'd give, although I wouldn't do it. I like the idea of making them wait at the bottom of the stairs for a half-an-hour. Good work, gents.

Shy

 

[ground stop]

had some tsa chick, dressed in a nice pant suit, come on board our crj 200 in PIT saying she needed to check if we had a reinforced cockpit door. flight was going to DCA. we said ok its right there. she said "where?" so we closed the door on her and she said "oh, thanks" something about a quota she had although she felt pretty stupid when she was leaving. mind you this was last feb.

 

[federico]

The dude just wanted to meet the F/A

 

[Newpilot2b]

TSA has the right to walk around the ramp watching doors and piggyback's They can't open an aircraft and board. If the aircraft is left unattened and the door is open they may enter the aircraft and leave a calling card. In about two weeks your company will get a fine notice. They may ask you to board but you can refuse it untill you authorize there ID. Your ID is as fake in there eye's as there's is to you. You think Al Quada couldn't duplicate. Do not let them on board till you call your Company OPS or Airport security.

 

[PunchTheClown]

Unfortunately, we are not always kept in the loop. TSA has a broad range of authority and can do many things that are not in our manuals. One can appreciate that mission if the reasonableness rule and the need is justifiable. If there is no reasonable cause to exercise some of those broad authorities, then the authority can be easily abused. You have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, over time, their authority will become less broad. Report it to your company in writing so there is a paper trail and request the reason this TSA agent was exercising this authority. There should be an answer if his actions were legitimate and within the boundaries of his authority.

If its not in my manual then I want no part of it. I dont care what anyone says on the phone. Word of mouth isnt going to protect my ass when something comes down from someone who wasnt authorized to be on that airplane.

 

[stall022]

was it in CVG on the us airways side?? Some TSA putz a few years ago was walking onto the airplanes and making the FA's inspect under every seat. i think he was just getting his jollies off watching them bend over...

while i was post flighting the ERJ in MGM I had a TSA guy come out and ask if I ever inspected the battery compartment in the nose of the airplane and if there was a way to seal it closed due to someone being able to put a gun inside it (almost felt like saying isn't it YOUR job to stop that from happening) I said no and HE said he needed to call someone right away to get that taken care of immediately. he acted like he just saved the world and walked back inside the terminal.

 

[rickair7777]

There are some TSA officer who are authorized Aviation Security Inspectors...these are plainclothes who have a duty to be on and about the ramp to look for security compliance and violations. They function in a manner similar to an FAA inspector.

There are also TSA supervisors who are NOT ASI's who apparently sometimes try to do the ASI's job without authorization...get their name & badge number, if they get real nervous it's a because they are a mere screener who is playing "Federal Agent" in a place where he does not belong...

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

I am just waiting for a pilot to call the police and report that he smelled alcohol on a TSA screeners breath. Now that would be funny, I don't care who you are.

 

[Prop2Jet]

Thousands Standing Around (TSA) now they want stand in our airplanes at o dark thirty!!!! Show him the Lav, turn off the bats lock the door call the police and say someone has broken into the airplane!!!!

 

[Nolife]

They do walk around and check things out. I got ramped in GSO one morning by the TSA. General questions and checking things out... compliance with 12.5 and the like.

 

[Workin'Stiff]

We had a TSA type person board our aircraft right at the tail end of boarding in CRW. He came up in the cockpit, showed us his badge and said that he was going to conduct an internal inspection of the aircraft. We noticed that he had a camera with him after he started taking a bunch of pictures of our restroom. The captain and I got really suspicious at this point and told him to get off of the aircraft. We called our "Director of Security", relived the story to him and had the whole aircraft deplaned. Needless to say, this TSA dude got a royal chewing from the supervisor from what I heard later on.

 

[737 Pylt]

Think about it, half those TSA d!pshts wouldn't know a security problem if it ran them over.

I bet you resemble that remark!

They are just a bunch of losers that are too lazy and stupid to work at Wendy's.

Speaking from experience eh??

I had the same thing happen, two TSA dorks wanted on board to do an "inspection". I told them there is nothing I know of in our manuals and that I would check on it and let them know, after 25 minutes of waiting at the bottom of the stairs they gave up and left.

I didn't know a C-172 had stairs on it?! I bet you impress all the chicks and your fellow flight instructors with that story!


737

 

[flyboyzii]

I am just waiting for a pilot to call the police and report that he smelled alcohol on a TSA screeners breath. Now that would be funny, I don't care who you are.

Ha ha ha ha Hey, I might try that.

 

[skiandsurf]

I had a TSA ramp inspection as well. Was in LAS. When I arrived at the gate, the gate agent cautioned us of a TSA ramp check. I have never heard of this. The guy drove to the plane in the Official TSA car. He came onboard and asked to see the First Aid Kit and the Emergency Medical Kit. Wanted to see that they were sealed and the scissors were not available.

 

[WaterSkiette]

Whoa!! Stall02-- I had the same experience. I'm an F/A. My crew and I showed up in CVG to go out to the plane. No agents or anyone around, as usual, to let us outside. This plain clothes TSA guy with a SIDA badge let us out and just FOLLOWED US OUT to the airplane. He got on and didn't say anything to the cockpit crew, just to me. Said he was there to observe my morning security check. He was kinda hot, so I didn't protest!
He watched me do EVERYTHING and then he had all these strange questions about the screws in the Lavatory and above/below my jumpseat. Apparently Trans States had agreed to comply with a new directive from the TSA to have those items covered with a "tamper-evident seal" and Trans States either forgot or didn't care. So like a week later this memo came out that we had to look for tamper evident seals over all the screws in the back of the plane. Anyways it was a TOTAL pain in the ass. We were delayed four hours before MX could come out and rig something up. Ended up only having one passenger because we were so late.
The TSA dude was really weird, acting nervous, making phone calls, taking notes.... and he never spoke to the female Captain. He acted like it was his right to be on our airplanes and that we were responsible to him!! Freaking nuts man! Made me so uncomfortable to have this man watching me crawl under seats in the dark!!! ahhh!

 

[XPOO]

At a previous job a TSA Supervisor stormed the cockpit of a 737 after the Captain offloaded PAX due to a MX issue. The Captain jumped out of his seat and with full force pushed the Supv. out of the cockpit and all the way back into the jet bridge and was ready to take him out. Airport security was called in and the Supv was escorted back into the terminal. Nothing happened to the Captain but word has it that the Supv got one hell of an @ss-chewing from his Director.

Rules that I understood at the time stated that is was Captain's disgretion only for allowance onto the flight deck. This Supv came strolling in without any approval from said Captain so he took immediate action.

Hope that helps!

 

[skiandsurf]

I think you guys need to settle down. You are hired to fly the plane. These guy are hired to protect you and your plane. You get paid for doing your job, just like they get paid to do their job.

The time that I got "TSA ramp checked", I asked him a few questions. Mostly just curious about this type of check. I have never heard of it and was making sure he was who he said he was....yeah I checked his ID.

I didnt give him a hard time. This was on the Airbus, and he was on and gone within 2 or 3 minutes.

Remember, if you piss these guys off, they will give us a hard time going thru security. And, I think that they can really ruin your carreer by saying that you are a mental case and might need further evaluation.

 

[ATTCS]

Remember, if you piss these guys off, they will give us a hard time going thru security. And, I think that they can really ruin your carreer by saying that you are a mental case and might need further evaluation.

Where have you been for the last 5 years??? Do you remember the spring and summer of 2002? There was almost a passenger revolt against TSA during that summer.