TSA Issue...need advice

[Pongster]

I am curious if anyone out there that is a pilot for a 121 airline, like me that have found themselves on this TSA secondary security list.

My situation revolves around coming back from a trip from Cancun a few weeks ago and finding out that my name is on this list. Now my company has stated they will back me as they do know me and have comlied with all the checks required by the current regulations to be employed in this new day and age. They realize that I have been an airline pilot for over 11 years without any incident or problems over the years.

My question is what recourse do I have and am curious if there are any other airline pilots that have experienced a similar situation.

I am confident that the matter will get cleared up, however I wonder what options are available to me without going the legal route. Any information you could share would help my situation, as for now I am unable to fly because I no longer have my SIDA badge allowing me access to my plane.

I am certain the matter will get cleared up within the next month, but my worry is that what if it does not. For now I am working in the flight ops office dealing with other company related issues that are new to me and I would rather stick to doing what I know best. Being a Line pilot.

Thanks for your input and please feel free to PM me if you don't wish to share info but not in a public forum.

 

[Inconceivable]

We have people who are on that "list" who have not lost their SIDA badges. Two are FFDOs that I know of.

Are you ALPA? Legal services should straighten out your company right quick I would think....

Sorry for your problems.

 

[Pongster]

Was Alpa until the mass layoffs after 9/11. I was furloughed for almost a year but my current airline is not represented by ALPA. I do still have my ALPA rights while awaiting recall, but have not pursued that channel because of the furlough issue. I will probably contact them for advice soon. My current employer has told me over and over that the problem will be rectified shortly, but at the same time they have never been faced with this problem so I am the first.

I am curious if the two you mention of that are FFDO's did get there situations straightend out? and are back online.

Thanks for your response as I would love to get this over with soon.

 

[Inconceivable]

No, they just "travel" (DH, commute) using their middle name and first initial:

John Smith FLAG
John H. Smith FLAG
J. Henry Smith ALL CLEAR

Feel safer?

 

[TIGV]

Wow !!

Feel safer?

ROFL !


What's next ? A Beer Hall Putsch in the Dulles Terminal at the Ruby Tuesdays behind the barbed wire, with Rear Admiral David M. Stone USN (Ret.) sporting a Buster Keaton mustache standing on the table firing his mind-droppings with great accuracy at the rest of his brownshirted thugs ??
This Sh!t has got to stop !!

Shame on you Admiral, I'm sure you think the TSA a useful avenue for imposing a thinly veiled Marshall Law on the travelling public but we don't.

Case in point, this public website, has just broadcast, worldwide, via this thread, a method by which someone might be able to circumvent some of the simpler security procedures the TSA has implemented.

What's next prior to boarding ? A strip and cavity search followed by being strapped screaming to a rusty dentist chair in a dank, dark, clammy airport basement interrogation area for your pre-boarding thiopentone sodium injection and rubber hose interrogation ?

 

[EagleRJ]

No, they just "travel" (DH, commute) using their middle name and first initial:

John Smith FLAG
John H. Smith FLAG
J. Henry Smith ALL CLEAR

Feel safer?

The "watch list" is a ridiculous way to screen passengers, for this exact reason. It's easily circumvented by the bad guys, and only hassles legitimate passengers.

Pongster- do you have a Middle-Eastern sounding name? I'd bet that they make up the majority of the list (even though Teddy Kennedy got nabbed).

Have you asked your airline if you can return to flight status as long as a SIDA holder escorts you to/from the airplane? Non-SIDA badged employees aren't banned from the SIDA- they do this for new-hires who aren't badged yet.

 

[soarby007]

Tsa

Well,

TSA is an entity unto its own and reveals very little about itself. I know that some people have been on this list because of a very common name. Have you been prohibited from anything yet? Or just find your name on a "list". You will never find out why your name is on that list. Classified info supposedly. However, I think you are able to provide positive identification of yourself, other than a name to TSA and even though the 'name' will appear on the list, 'you' won't be on a list. If John Doe is on the list, then nothing may happen, especially if you are John Q. Doe. I think the list is to for the purpose of doing additional checking. Recently, I don't remember who, a political figure found himself on the list, and of course that was remedied rather quickly. I don't think he was prohibited from anything. Seems like it was Ted Kennedy.

Not much help.

 

[Pongster]

Thanks for your insights,

I don't have a "Middle Eastern" name but I do have a foreign name. I guess that is close enough these days. I talked with our security guy at my airline and he stated that there is a quick process to getting of the list and allowing me my SIDA badge back but so far it is coming up on 18 days. The formal process to file to be removed can take a month to six weeks. So for now I am stuck in an office, but at least I still get my guarantee flight pay. As for being escorted by a SIDA person that just does not allow me the freedom to do my job and was not allowable by my airline to me. Thanks for you info again.

 

[dispatchguy]

new TSA moniker (sorry if this has been repeated before)


TSA = Thousands of Stupid A$$holes

Good luck pongster, dont let the bastards win...

 

[shamrock]

Maybe they weren't that far off on Teddy Kennedy after all.

 

[Flydaplane]

To get your name removed from the TSA selectee list Email to

[email protected]

and explain the problem. Chances are the name match is the result of someone else having the same name i.e. John Smith or Abdul Abdallah there may be several people with the same name. They'll ask you for info that is more specific...ie Date of Birth, Passport #, Nationality etc. and try to get your name removed if it shouldn't be on there. If they have a reason for it being on there then you may want to file a FOI request and try and find out why you're on the list. Most people that are on the list by mistake can get their names removed. If you are on the list you cannot be in possession of a SIDA badge.

 

[xskywriter]

The list contains plenty of additional information that enable you to further screen a name. If you exhaust all means at this point your inhouse person in charge of this information has a number to call to further identify the person in question. We do this all the time. There are plenty of duplicate names on the list. I hope things work out for you.