Sorry, I have to vent about how muchTSA $uxx

[COOPERVANE]

Smaller airport TSA $ucks donkey
Today, non-revving from GSO to ATL after a weekend getaway, I had the following exchange:

TSA chick: Are you "on duty" (had my leather jacket in my arms, and was wearing black pants and shoes).
ME: No, why?
TSA: Well, if you're off duty, you have to take your shoes off.
Me: And if I'm on duty?
TSA: You can leave them on
Me: Then I'm on duty
TSA: Oh, O.K. go on through then

So I walk through with my polo shirt and 6 pack of wine bottles from the winery tour we took

-------------------------------------------------------

1 month ago was reporting for a 6:00 AM flight in MLU.

Me to ASA ticket counter agent: Do we have to go through security here?
TSA Bigshot overhears and says in indignant tone: Sir you ALWAYS have to go through security EVERYWHERE, its the law
Me: Well, O.K. we will, but just to let you know, we don't go through security at about half of our outstation cities and also don't in ATL
TSA Nazi pulls a pad and pen out: Where EXACTLY lets you bypass security. I need to check this out!
Me: Someday I'll give you the list of all the airports that make us go through security, it'll be a shorter list

-------------------------------------

3 months ago, going through security at unnamed airport. some pax given orange laminated cards selected for "additional screening"

Go around the corner and find......a table full of orange cards thrown down by pax who don't feel like the additional screening.

When I mention this to a TSA guy he ignores me but he does order additional screening for me (I guess I was a troublemaker)

-------------------------------------------------

Like posted before, I have no problem going through security if it makes everybody feel better. I just hate the attitude, ignorance and inconsistancy.

 

[Vik]

... and you're surprised, why??

TSA = the old high school drop out screeners, now employed by the federal government.

Same idiots as before, new employer.

I keep getting my Samsonite bag "cracked" open by them and then resealed partially closed with tape. I don't lock my bags either. If they open them, why can't they close them? Its not rocket science.

Also, if my bags are full of clothes, what exactly causes my standard Samsonite to be pulled to be opened?

 

[Twotter76]

I had the same shoe thing happen in DAY with those inbred country folk. Told me I had to remove my shoes since I wasnt on duty. Bah.

 

[Hammer&Tape]

Try being a mechanic who has to fly to an out station and fix a broken plane. TSA gets really ramped up when the tools go through there x-ray.And they cant figure out that you need the tools to fix the plane. They have even keep my tools off the A/C when I ckecked them for a flight going through IAD. "Hello maintenance control? Me and the parts are here but my tools didnt make it"

 

[PapaGiorgio]

Edited

 

[Bluto]

Mr. Papagiorgio, Thanks!

 

[PapaGiorgio]

GoodPoint Bluto,

Well at least you know there are ways!!!

Thanx for the tip....

 

[JD2003]

"Same idiots as before, different employer"

Yea and add a rotten attitude and a 200% pay raise.

Our federal government took 6$ per hour workers with a good attitude and transformed them into 17$ per hour workers with lousy attitudes.

Thank you...thank you congressmen and senators for paying these obviously superiour people more than me...after all, I am only entrusted with 50 people in a kerosene missile and that is only worth 20 thousand dollars a year.

thank you...thank you very much Washington poopheads!

 

[Midnight Flyer]

Some TSA agents are thieves. One of the pilots I fly with got his leather uniform jacket stolen. He said that he packed it in his suitcase, because the weather was warm in the city he left from. The TSA forced him to check one of his bags (he had 3 total: roller bag, kitbag, and a small computer bag). Apparantly his bag was randomly chosen for a visual inspection after it had already been sent down the belt. When he got his bag at baggage claim, he noticed his jacket was missing, and there was a note inside his bag basically saying not to be alarmed, the TSA had opened and searched his bag. He called the airline, and sure enough, they said it was found laying somewhere on the ramp. Looks like one of the TSA pukes who inspected his bag thought they would steal a nice leather jacket, until they pulled it out and noticed our company name and logo embroidered on the front, which would make it of no use to him. The theif probably got mad and just threw it down. Unbelieveable.

 

[crashpad]

Have you ever tried to report these servants of the public? That's like going up the ladder of mental retardation. No wait, that gives people with mental retardation a bad name.

 

[Capn Lucky]

Have you ever tried to report these servants of the public? That's like going up the ladder of mental retardation. No wait, that gives people with mental retardation a bad name.

I wouldn't report one of them to save my life. This agency is less customer responsive than the IRS.

 

[acaTerry]

I had the same shoe thing happen in DAY with those inbred country folk. Told me I had to remove my shoes since I wasnt on duty. Bah.

Oh, it must be a country thing and not a TSA thing...idiot. Same and worse happens in your big cities.

 

[TinGoose1]

Had the following encounter in ERI.

TSA: Sir I'll need you to remove your belt and shoes.

ME: Why, what exactly are you looking for?

TSA: Anything you could take control of the aircraft with.

ME: I'm the captain, I already have control of the aircraft.

TSA: Sorry, we still have to look for knives and such.

ME: I have an ax in the cockpit already, does that count?

When it was all over with I did what I always do when confronted with retarded TSA....... I got mad and did what I was told.

 

[DC8 Flyer]

When it was all over with I did what I always do when confronted with retarded TSA....... I got mad and did what I was told.

I dont know why, but that cracks me up, mind if I use that as a quote in my siggy?

 

[NEDude]

Had the following encounter in ERI.

TSA: Sir I'll need you to remove your belt and shoes.

ME: Why, what exactly are you looking for?

TSA: Anything you could take control of the aircraft with.

ME: I'm the captain, I already have control of the aircraft.

TSA: Sorry, we still have to look for knives and such.

ME: I have an ax in the cockpit already, does that count?

When it was all over with I did what I always do when confronted with retarded TSA....... I got mad and did what I was told.

Be careful, a USAirways captain was arrested for a similar coversation a few years ago. TSA took him mentioning having an axe in the cockpit as a threat.

 

[b82rez]

At least this thread is on the regional forum so everybody can prove what children they are. Yeah, TSA sucks. Quit your b!tching and deal with it. Acting like children when you encounter these people invites more of the same behavior on their part. Be a professional.

 

[Dodge]

I had the same shoe thing happen in DAY with those inbred country folk. Told me I had to remove my shoes since I wasnt on duty. Bah.

Dayton, OH.......large city, sometimes considered a suburb of Cincinnati. Yeah, Dayton, real COUNTRY FOLK there. Try a city without Approach control or even a towered airport before you start playing the bumpkin card.

 

[mooser]

"Same idiots as before, different employer"

Yea and add a rotten attitude and a 200% pay raise.

Our federal government took 6$ per hour workers with a good attitude and transformed them into 17$ per hour workers with lousy attitudes.

Thank you...thank you congressmen and senators for paying these obviously superiour people more than me...after all, I am only entrusted with 50 people in a kerosene missile and that is only worth 20 thousand dollars a year.

thank you...thank you very much Washington poopheads!

Amen Brother

Mooser

 

[Bluto]

At least this thread is on the regional forum so everybody can prove what children they are. Yeah, TSA sucks. Quit your b!tching and deal with it. Acting like children when you encounter these people invites more of the same behavior on their part. Be a professional.

That's funny considering the only publicized media examples of the behavior you describe involved major airline flight crews, not regional crews. The most childish behavior I've seen at TSA checkpoints comes from the mid-50's major types. I've got specific examples if you want. Thanks for stopping by the kids table though. I'm glad you could drop in to show us how mature you are by calling us names and using ridiculously broad generalizations.

 

[b82rez]

That's funny considering the only publicized media examples of the behavior you describe involved major airline flight crews, not regional crews. The most childish behavior I've seen at TSA checkpoints comes from the mid-50's major types. I've got specific examples if you want. Thanks for stopping by the kids table though. I'm glad you could drop in to show us how mature you are by calling us names and using ridiculously broad generalizations.

You're welcome.

 

[Capn Lucky]

At least this thread is on the regional forum so everybody can prove what children they are. Yeah, TSA sucks. Quit your b!tching and deal with it. Acting like children when you encounter these people invites more of the same behavior on their part. Be a professional.

Last time I checked, it wasn't a professional requirement to allow your rights to be violated by ignorant and petty civil servants who should be thrilled that they have jobs that pay better that 10 bucks an hour. The TSA started out very well and has deteriorated into a group of ill motivated slackers. The solution to the problems is the "Phone booth" that looks for nitrates. That gadget does the work of 10 screeners and is alot nicer. I've seen them at work in PVD.

 

[Captain X]

Me to ASA ticket counter agent: Do we have to go through security here?
TSA Bigshot overhears and says in indignant tone: Sir you ALWAYS have to go through security EVERYWHERE, its the law
Me: Well, O.K. we will, but just to let you know, we don't go through security at about half of our outstation cities and also don't in ATL
TSA Nazi pulls a pad and pen out: Where EXACTLY lets you bypass security. I need to check this out!
Me: Someday I'll give you the list of all the airports that make us go through security, it'll be a shorter list

Here's the law in case anyone is curious.

§ 1540.107 Submission to screening and inspection.
No individual may enter a sterile area or board an aircraft without submitting to the screening and inspection of his or her person and accessible property in accordance with the procedures being applied to control access to that area or aircraft under this subchapter.
[67 FR 41639, June 19, 2002]

Our airline has multiple cities as well where we simply go thru ops.

Personally, I disagree with the practice of ANYONE bypassing screening, but that's just me. There have been instances (albeit as rare as 9/11) of flight crew members or other airline employees bypassing security and causing trouble or worse (12/07/1987, PSA Flight 1771).

That flight in fact, is the one that spurred the "requirement" for all crew members and employees to be screened. And here, almost 20 years later, we allow complacency once again and defend the very attitude when someone challenges it.

No wonder the FAMs say we've "already forgotten all we've learned from 9/11."

 

[Dizel8]

But what is the point of screening a pilot, if he is operating the flight? It becomes a silly, circular argument.

Q:Why are you screening me?
A:Becuase we don't want anyone to take over the airplane!
Q: But since I am flying the airplane and hence in control, what good will it do?
A: Blank stare!

Let me take this a bit further, I cannot carry a scredriver, but I could become a FFDO and carry a gun. I cannot have a penknife, but the FAA gives me a crashaxe.

Either we, as the pilots of the airplanes, are trusted individuals or we are not. If it is the former, then screening us is a joke and if it the latter, then we need to shut down the air traffic system.

Why they do not run all air crews through the same back ground security screening as the FFDO and then let us bypass security is beyond me.

 

[kevdog]

Dayton, OH.......large city, sometimes considered a suburb of Cincinnati. Yeah, Dayton, real COUNTRY FOLK there. Try a city without Approach control or even a towered airport before you start playing the bumpkin card.

Dayton is such a thriving metropolis! did you know they invented the tooth brush there? any other place would have called it the teeth brush.

 

[mamba20]

Dayton is a large city? Thats a new one to me. I guess it could be maybe but with the amount of arson and murder here its hard to break over that hump.

 

[Captain X]

But what is the point of screening a pilot, if he is operating the flight? It becomes a silly, circular argument.

Q:Why are you screening me?
A:Becuase we don't want anyone to take over the airplane!
Q: But since I am flying the airplane and hence in control, what good will it do?
A: Blank stare!

Let me take this a bit further, I cannot carry a scredriver, but I could become a FFDO and carry a gun. I cannot have a penknife, but the FAA gives me a crashaxe.

Either we, as the pilots of the airplanes, are trusted individuals or we are not. If it is the former, then screening us is a joke and if it the latter, then we need to shut down the air traffic system.

Why they do not run all air crews through the same back ground security screening as the FFDO and then let us bypass security is beyond me.

What is the point of screening a pilot? (or FA, or ramper, etc, etc....)

Yes, as an FFDO you could carry a gun but what if your fellow pilot was not an FFDO but had just learned that his wife was leaving him (or whatever) and decided that going out in a blaze of infamy would be the way to show her?

So he bypasses security in MLU (b/c he can) with his 9mm (or whatever) that he bought on the layover at Boudreaux's Cash and Pawn which he later kills you with before you ever even knew what hit you (b/c he was planning it and had prepared for it) the flies the airplane into (insert whatever here).

Oh, I totally hear ya' on the assininity(?) of it all, with "weapons" in the flight deck already and the fact that we are in "control," but I guess it's just the point of there is a regulation on the books and it gets broken every day.

And just as a point, an FFDO is not authorized to bypass security unless he is actively transporting his weapon. To do so is considered abuse of credentials and violation of federal law.

 

[belchfire]

For my part I am tired of being treated like part
of the problem instead of part of the solution.

I think that at some point it will come down to
all of the 121 pilots calling in sick on next April 1st
or something and not coming back till we can carry
our leathermans (and Zippos if desired)...daam tail
has been wagging the dog for too long.

To top it all off the good ol' friendly USofA won't
dare to offend anyone by profiling the suspect
group...but pilots have to take their hats off going
through the magnetometer because they might
be concealing something in it.

 

[mamba20]

Belch, well put! I agree, we wont dare offend anyone but we will piss off the whole world with our invasions and policies.

 

[Rook]

For my part I am tired of being treated like part
of the problem instead of part of the solution.

I think that at some point it will come down to
all of the 121 pilots calling in sick on next April 1st
or something and not coming back till we can carry
our leathermans (and Zippos if desired)...daam tail
has been wagging the dog for too long.

To top it all off the good ol' friendly USofA won't
dare to offend anyone by profiling the suspect
group...but pilots have to take their hats off going
through the magnetometer because they might
be concealing something in it.

Guess i'm part of the problem also. Been flying out of the same city for the past 3 days. On the last day (of course) I finally trip off the detector and get hand wanded for all to see. That wasnt the big deal. Got hassled about my belt that I've had for the past 2 1/2 years so when I questioned why today was the day it went off the thug hand wanding me just said, "I can't help you bro, get a new belt." My one and hopefully only run-in with the TSA.

Rook

 

[pipejockey]

Well as any of the cargo pilots can tell you, we never go through security, and I mean NEVER! Maybe someone will check an ID or 2 but thats about it. Several places I walk right in and go out to the plane. All this screening of pilots is crap.

Oh and get this, my company buys us tickets on passenger carriers to take us where they want us, and because it is a one way ticket purchased on short notice I am always selected for additional screening, every single time!! But I if you walk in planning to jumpseat, you pass right through with no additional screening whatsoever. Ahhh the wisdom of the TSA, don't you love it. I can't wait for the demise of the TSA and the return to the private screeners who were paid what they are worth. They're the same people anyway, but now they will be paid more in accordance with the knowledge and education needed to adequately do the job, plus no pension!! Heck airline pilots don't get pensions anymore, why in the he ll should they?

As we all know it wasn't a failure of screening on 9-11. It was a communications failure between our intelligence agencies and our Government's inability to grow a set and not worry about violating the "civil rights" of members of a religion that make up 98% of the terrorist attacks in the world.