Dylder Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I haven't posted in quite a while, but this happened to me Monday so I thought I'd pass it along... I'm not really a tool collector, but I like to pick up Stanley Sweethearts just to own, if the price is right. Last weekend I was in Florida and hit a flea market, there was an old Sweetheart Brace, no bits. But at $2 I grabbed it. Also picked up a glass CocaCola pitcher. I wrapped the pitcher in a couple t-shirts and stuffed it in the middle of my suitcase, also stuck the brace in the there (no bits). Going through the scanner at the airport I get called aside with my suitcase and asked if there was anything sharp inside. I said there was a glass pitcher that might have broke and it would be sharp. Nope, that was OK, they were after the brace. You can't carry a tool over 8". What the >>><<<. Ended up I either had to go back to the ticket counter and check the bag / stand through all the lines again or throw it away. for $2 , I threw away an antique tool. Never mind the kid carrying a 2' long skateboard through security or the guy with a guitar and extra wire guitar strings. I may have been a terrorist with a 1920's sweetheart brace without a bit. Bottom line, if you pick up a tool someplace traveling, mail it home to yourself or check your bag. dw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stampy Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Post 911 security in aviation has gone so over board to the point of being absurd. I'm a professional pilot and have heard story after story like yours from passengers and flight crew alike about flagrant abuses of power and illogical searches and seizures of peoples property. All in the name of security. Don't get me started.... Stampy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Well, your title was correct, the tools are behind the TSA counter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWC Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Well, your title was correct, the tools are behind the TSA counter. I don't think that's what he meant, but I'm glad you wrote what you did. Because they're paid so poorly, have such a bad "I'm bored" attitude most of the time and have to deal with unnerved passengers, TSA agents like to get their jollies from abusing passengers for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stampy Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 A friend of mine used to fly for a regional airline up here in Canada. He was going through security to his airplane after being grounded for 3 days due to the North America no fly zone that was instituted immediatly after 911. On his belt was his customary leatherman that he had worn for years. A habit left over from bush flying in the north. While the CATSA (TSA equivalent here) people inspected every inch of his flight bag and travel bag they confiscated his leatherman. When an argument ensued they replied that he might try to take over the airplane with the Leatherman..... To which he replied..."I already have control of the airplane you idiot, I'm the pilot!!" Needless to say he never saw the leatherman again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpike Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 That's one of the many great things about being a corporate pilot. I determine what goes into the baggage compartment, and the tools I get on trips get first priority. I make a point of hitting local antique shops and flea markets while I'm away on trips, and I'm glad that I don't havento deal with that sort of TSA crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlehikoinen Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I think it's just their way of getting something they want rather than any particular standard. Oh did you hear how they took a 96 year old lady's knitting needles? They were afraid she would knot an Afghan! (yuk yuk!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flairwoodworks Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well, your title was correct, the tools are behind the TSA counter. Saw that coming! While the CATSA (TSA equivalent here) people inspected every inch of his flight bag and travel bag they confiscated his leatherman. When an argument ensued they replied that he might try to take over the airplane with the Leatherman..... To which he replied..."I already have control of the airplane you idiot, I'm the pilot!!" That was good! Oh did you hear how they took a 96 year old lady's knitting needles? They were afraid she would knot an Afghan! (yuk yuk!) That was better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 My, how times have changed. My grandfather was once able to carry a sword on a plane. (Ceremonial, wrapped in a trench coat, and tucked into a fold of cardboard.) This was, of course, decades ago. Merely two years ago, I needed to either walk back to the car or throw out (to be run through an industrial chipper) a small Victorinox pocket knife, that was smaller than my pinkie finger. I didn't feel like walking back the half-mile to the car and making the other guys with me wait (I had the tickets). It's gotten to the point that I need to bring a "travel wallet" to my kid's school when I have to go in. I can't bring the "chain drive" wallet. And going through metal detectors for me is like that scene out of _Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End_... except that the items are just metal and not weaponry. *Edit* (And I'm not female...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stampy Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 That's one of the many great things about being a corporate pilot. I determine what goes into the baggage compartment, and the tools I get on trips get first priority. I make a point of hitting local antique shops and flea markets while I'm away on trips, and I'm glad that I don't havento deal with that sort of TSA crap. What do you fly rpike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markhochstein Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 This is slightly off topic, but still worth telling. Last year at Thanksgiving time here in Baltimore - after the liquid and gels ban was in place - the TSA was confiscating pies that passengers were bringing through security because they contained liquids and/or gels. So late in the the day they had all these pies sitting around and they were trying to figure out what to do with them. Someone said "Hey, why don't we take them all down to the USO in the other concourse and let all the GI's have them!" Great idea! So off they went with a whole raft of pies for the soldiers to eat. When they arrived at the USO they asked the volunteer if they could give all these pies to the GI's. She said "Sure." It didn't take long for the GI's to dig into the pie's. This when I came upon the scene. Seeing all these different pies I thought that some womens group made them for the soldiers and I asked the USO volunteer about it. She motioned to the TSA Agents who then told me the story. At which point I said "but if they are OK for our guys to eat then why did you confiscate them in the first place!". The TSA guys looked at each other like the Three Stooges. Even though they were trying to do the right thing it still showed how ridiculous the system is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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