TSA: I'm a believer

[ExAF]

Check em out

On a humorous note....next time you go through a newly converted TSA crowd, check to see how many of them have their patches sewn on the bottom of their sleeve. They haven't let me down yet...there's always at least one that has the patches dangling at the bottom end of the sleeve instead of the top by the shoulder seam.

 

[Jetsnake]

My encounters with the new TSA have
also been good, but I'll have to admit that
my vote is not yet out, let's see how good this
does work. On the positive side I know of
2 furloughed pilots from NWA that were hired
as supervisor's and they have told me they
like it so far. I'd like to see more furloughed
pilots given the opportunity as opposed to
a few other's I've seen in the position so far...


Jetsnake

 

[tarp]

Sorry to disagree with all the backslapping on this post, but the TSA folks are too "grabby", invade personal space and property and are immediately confrontational if challenged.

So far I have seen the same "training" at GSO, CMH, IND and BWI.

By "grabby", I mean their tendency to put their hands on personal items. I have had TSA folks grab my wallet (sometimes in a jesture to hand it to me) and sometimes to root through the bowl/basket to discern the different metal pieces. I go ballistic when somebody grabs my wallet with all the cash I am carrying plus credit cards, every ID I own except my company ID. They have got to keep their hands off stuff. I have never heard the scanner yell bag check or any other alert on my stuff but these guys and gals just have to put their paws on it. Man, that ticks me off!!

TSA'ers also have a habit of crowding the "portal" thereby adding their personal metal to my personal metal. I'm sorry I'm not taking my wings off to go through the portal and unfortunately I have dental work from the 60's (read dense metal in teeth). These guys stand six inches off the portal with steel badges and keys, cell phones and who knows what else. What is it going to hurt for them to back up 12 inches and giving us a little personal space and letting the magnetometer read only the one body.

When challenged to back up away from the portal (or challenged on anything else), the TSA'ers immediately do the opposite. This has to be training! Basically, these guys and gals are hearing an order from a patron (me) and then absolutely not complying. This is training just like martial arts using the aggressors strength and force against them. I don't like it. I ask you to back up, I am going to lose patience if you don't comply. I ask you to take your hands off my wallet, that doesn't mean turn it over in your hands and give it an even closer inspection.

If there are numerous pilots becoming TSA screeners, I can't help but wonder why they don't point out how stupid this whole dog and pony show is! Tell your supervisors to go over to the FBO ramp and check security over there. How about checking the rampers and caterers coming through the back door? Hint to all terrorists - ignore the front door - the back door is wide open for you!

Can't wait for the "armed pilot" rule to get inked. OK, I'm carrying a Glock. What possible reason can you have for checking my bags? I am part of the solution and the final defense in a hijacking action - I am not the enemy or even a suspect.

 

[V-1]

I've also noticed the propensity for the TSA screeners to stand just beyond the opening in the metal detector, blocking my path. I've wondered if it was a tactic to get me to slow down through the machine, so it'd have more time to detect my wings.

I wonder how excited they'd all get if I accidentally ran over one of them who insisted on employing this strategy?

Otherwise, kudos to the new screener's professionalism and guarded friendliness. Hopefully those qualities won't disappear after a few years when they're no longer under the public and press' microscope.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

Do it...

V 1, I say do it. Bull your way right over them. Things like that usually work out great for the person who does it...Heavens forbid they slow you down enough to take a look at you and decide whether you or someone else they slow down needs more attention. Profiling has got to start somewhere and a good look at a person makes sense to me.

Before I start hearing how they don't profile, I'll just say that I believe they may not have a public policy to profile, but my friend who travels regularly for business and is half asian assures me they do. He is male, slightly darker skin and would look to be between 26 and 35 and is yet to fly without going through the "random" selection. I on the other hand, a small Irish guy, haven't been selected(haven't flown that much either).

I will say one look at the security and I did decide that going to the large airports would be avoided at all costs.

 

[Timebuilder]

I will say one look at the security and I did decide that going to the large airports would be avoided at all costs.

I think that a great many people have already made that decision.

 

[V-1]

Re: Do it...

V 1, I say do it. Bull your way right over them. Things like that usually work out great for the person who does it...Heavens forbid they slow you down enough to take a look at you and decide whether you or someone else they slow down needs more attention. Profiling has got to start somewhere and a good look at a person makes sense to me.


I will say one look at the security and I did decide that going to the large airports would be avoided at all costs.

I think you missed the tongue-in-cheek nature of my reply.

For the record, I'm not in any particular hurry to get through security. My workday doesn't really start until I get to the airplane. My point was that most people have a personal "comfort zone" of about three feet when it comes to sharing space with a stranger, particularly if that stranger is challenging that person face-to-face. I can't believe that a security screener is so blind they need to get within two feet of someone to get a good look at their mannerisms.

A "good look at someone" that "has got to start somewhere" starts at the entry point, where the TSA personnel examines a passenger's ticket and photo ID. It starts for me in the same place, where my company identification is examined. I agree that examinations should continue throughout the security process, however the confrontational connotation by screeners who insist in standing in the way of the passenger, or professional, who is politely working to comply with their requests is not necessary or called for. No one travelling through security needs to be molested, and the TSA professionals have done a good job eliminating this, from my experience. Standing two feet on the other side of the metal detector, blocking egress is a practice that many people will view as confrontational however, which is in sharp contrast with the overall professional conduct of the TSA screeners.

...(haven't flown that much either).

I go through security, in uniform, with seven different pieces of identification that can be cross-checked, or examined individually to confirm my identity as an airline pilot (and I'm not including library cards, voter id cards, etc.) on an almost daily basis. I see the improvements that have been made. I see further improvements that can be made, in professionalism, and security. I'm concerned about the treatment the paying passenger, whose identity is less verifyable than mine, and the impression they're getting from the confrontational nature of the practice I was discussing.

I will say one look at the security and I did decide that going to the large airports would be avoided at all costs.

This is exactly what airline professionals are frustrated about, and what prompted my reply.

Perhaps if you had eight security screeners to get through before you were allowed access to the 152 you fly, you'd be interested in their improvements in professionalism, and the areas they still need to work on.

Like it or not, General Aviation is the current "weak link". I know of at least three models of piston twins that can be started without keys. One of these models has a 3000 pound useful load (use your imagination). It's not uncommon to see these aircraft unsecured and unguarded day and night at uncontrolled airports around the nation. I think the most successful piston single manufacturer only used perhaps three different key designs for every ignition switch they put in their aircraft, it's common knowledge that just about any similar key will start them. You may be the next to experience security procedures that need improvement. Until then, don't pretend to understand the viewpoint of someone who sees the system everyday.

Profiling has got to start somewhere and a good look at a person makes sense to me.

...I on the other hand, a small Irish guy, haven't been selected...

Be careful what you wish for. Last time I checked, there were Irish terrorists who are fundamentally no better than Muslim terrorists. They all kill innocent civilians to achieve their objectives.

Regards,
V-1

 

[RichardFitzwell]

I've also noticed the propensity for the TSA screeners to stand just beyond the opening in the metal detector, blocking my path. I've wondered if it was a tactic to get me to slow down through the machine...

Bingo!

That is exactly what we are doing. WE stand close to the walk through metal detector to control the flow of passengers entering the sterile area. WE are trained to visually inspect each person as they walk through. This is not profiling. The metal detector is most effective when people walk through at an even pace with their hands at their sides. Passengers cannot carry bags and cell phones through the metal detector, even though they try.

Passing through the metal detector too fast or touching the sides will set off the alarm. As you know by now, when the alarm sounds, you will be directed aside for further screening. My advice to you is to pass through it slowly. I have metal shanks in my shoes, a metal belt buckle and a metal money clip. We don't have metal badges. If I walk through it slowly, I am O.K. If I try to pass through quickly, I set off the alarm everytime.

I guarantee, when a passenger passes through the metal detector, it is only detecting that passenger. It is not detecting the person standing next to the machine. I have stood right on the edge of the metal detector without sounding the alarm.

As for being grabby -- yeah some people might consider it, "too grabby" but WE are trying to throughly inspect a lot of people in a short amount of time. I agree that some people might consider it rude and an invasion of their privacy but it needs to be done. I always tell people exactly what I am going to do before I do it. But people still become angry at times. The next time you are placing you wallet in the tub, tell the person doing the inspection you want your wallet inspected in front of you. (They will always inspect it infront of you but they don't need to get your permission first).

Not many people realize when they pass through the walk through metal detector they are giving up some of their rights as a U.S. citizen. You are allowing yourself to be searched. It is implied consent.

As a furloughed airline pilot, I realize the importance of my job. I always try to put myself in the passenger's position. I understand that if we make this experience too uncomfortable for them, they will not fly in the future and I really want them to fly in the future.

 

[Typhoon1244]

The metal detector is most effective when people walk through at an even pace with their hands at their sides... If I walk through it slowly, I am O.K. If I try to pass through quickly, I set off the alarm everytime.

Well I'll be dam_ed, I didn't know that! That's the most useful piece of information I've seen on this board to date. Maybe I can stop taking off my wallet and watch now...

I have a question for you, RichardFitzwell. And I'm not asking you this as a representative of the T.S.A....I'm asking you. Don't you look a little more closely at physically fit, 18-29 year old Arab men than you do at other people? It would seem to be only natural.

For you dissenters, remember what I said: I don't think the T.S.A. is going to revolutionize airport security. In fact, I don't think any security agency established by a democratic American government will be able to make our airports air-tight. The T.S.A. has accomplished three things:

1. They've restored airport security to the status it should have been at all along (i.e. no more uneducated foreign nationals responsible for security).

2. They've (apparently) recognized the general trustworthiness of a uniformed, badged flight crew member...at least here in D.F.W.

3. Although they probably will never be able to stop a determined, well-trained, professional terrorist, they will probably be able to stop the various lunatics and "lone nuts" which are more common anyway.

It didn't take me long to see that the collective I.Q. of the screeners in D.F.W. is far above what we had before. I do, in fact, feel like this is now a safer airport. (Funny...I didn't feel that way when the B.D.U.-clad teenagers with safety-wired M16's were strolling around.)

 

[gsrcrsx68]

<<I think you missed the tongue-in-cheek nature of my reply. >>


Ditto, obviously I don't think you should run over the security agent.

I read these boards for entertainment and useful information, but what I see a lot of is disrespect. Disrespect from the top, most experienced people directed at those below. Those people then disrespect anyone they can find. Don't agree with unions...you are crap. Don't want to train the same way...you are crap. Don't have the same degree...you are crap. Take a job as a screener and don't do it the way the pilots(who are not security specialists) would ...you are crap. You fly planes....wow. Does it give people the right to disrespect others? Not even a bit. Does it even give you extra knowledge or do you mainly have a narrow focused skill?

Prima donna-ism is nothing new, just sad.

<<Last time I checked, there were Irish terrorists who are fundamentally no better than Muslim terrorists>>

UUhhhh you mean like the American terrorists that through the English out of this country? Seriously, examine the situations in their totality. Not even close to the same, but if you want to throw the terrorist term around like that then you might want to think about who couldn't be labeled terrorists. Certainly other countries could easily label the USA terroristic.

And finally, I do understand your frustration. Personal space is a dear issue to everyone. I couldn't walk through those areas day in and day out, but either come up with a better system or put up with it til someone does. I personally think flight crews should be able screen or validate themselves. Stage crews outside security, two crews check each other, unknowns get scrutinized. Just an idea and maybe a bad one. I'm not claiming to have the answer, I just think the screeners probably try to do their best in a stressfull situation. If you think it is bad to have your personal space violated think how stressful it must be to violate peoples space all day long.