Most of 'em seem to have failed mall cop school, so I guess the terrorists have won.

It's fun to make faces at them when they're staring up at the lights

It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

Lather, rinse, repeat- from June 24, 2012.

vernonFL: [reveriehound.com image 400x300]

Thread over

I'm glad this is being repeated so I will be able to ask the question I missed last time...

Why can't a plane return to the terminal instead of sitting on the runway for hours at a time when there is a delay but it can return when someone screws up in the "security" check?

Transportation Security Officer Alija Abdul Majed

JFK is the second-worst farking airport it's been my misfortune to travel through.

The worst is Boston Logan. Until I went there I never appreciated why the locals are called Massholes.

Washing Dullas and Phoenix Sky Harbor are the least bad.

dletter: oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

This....

Plus... I am not a metal detector exit, but, I would assume you get some sort of "Green" good light if it is all good.... not just expecting "not red" when people walk through.

You're right.

You're not a metal detector expert.

Or a metal detector exit for that matter.

Again? Here let me get some farking duct tape, I'll buy it, no, don't worry. Tape that shiat to the floor so it doesn't happen again.

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ENTRUSTED WITH PROTECTING US!

I think there's a better story to take from this.

for an hour, anything could have happened. Bombs could have gone through, airplanes crashing into one another, dogs and cats living together: what happened?

fark all.

USA
USA
USA
USA

/but seriously fark the TSA

oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

Not only this, but every US airport I've been to has a MASSIVE security hole for domestic flights. At security they check your ID and boarding pass. At the gate they only scan your boarding pass to make sure it beeps. You could easily switch boarding passes with anyone past security and go anywhere. And don't get me started about how useless the No-Fly-List us.

Meanwhile, on Fark.com: "Hey, who greenlit this article again?"

Deserves a farking HERO tag.

Sick of our Naziesque airport security.

illannoyin: Why can't a plane return to the terminal instead of sitting on the runway for hours at a time when there is a delay but it can return when someone screws up in the "security" check?

Because fark you, plebean.

Neato: Not only this, but every US airport I've been to has a MASSIVE security hole for domestic flights. At security they check your ID and boarding pass. At the gate they only scan your boarding pass to make sure it beeps. You could easily switch boarding passes with anyone past security and go anywhere. And don't get me started about how useless the No-Fly-List us.

What's the risk? They've already verified that the passengers are "allowed" to fly... so what if they trade boarding passes and one guy goes to Tampa while another goes to Cleveland instead of vice versa? If somebody was a real risk then they shouldn't have been allowed past security at all.

//Not that I'm defending the system as secure in the least bit... just that I don't see your point.

vernonFL: [reveriehound.com image 400x300]

Would have of course been disappointed if this was any further down than the 3rd post.

Fark them. If I was on holiday, they would NOT delay me!

The_Sponge: whidbey: Deserves a farking HERO tag.

Sick of our Naziesque airport security.


HERO tag?

You know, whoever unplugged the metal detector..(DRTFA.)

BTW I got a chuckle out of your Ramones bit. Didn't know you had it in ya....;)

I was actually on flight 207 and my boss was on flight 246 (don't check IPs) for this incident - it was anything but pleasant and although we can appreciate the TSA's efforts keeping airline travel safe, we simply cannot express our complete and utter disgust at how this situation occurred and more importantly, the response and manner in which the matter was addressed and (allegedly) resolved.

Fellow passengers and I thought the flight stewards were extremely professional throughout the incident and I applaud their efforts for conveying as much information about the situation as they possibly could; they were also sympathetic to our desires for returning to our jobs, our lives, our families, all of which were interrupted by this incident.

"Why do we had to get on the plane and get back on the plane?" the child in the window seat next to me asked after hearing the overhead announcement. His mother was unconscious after having spent several hours in the airport lounge, where she imbibed enough alcoholic drinks to properly sedate a South African elephant. Her breasts were smooth, hairless and curvaceous to the point of warranting an animal's sudden attack, but I maintained the animosity of fresh Roll-aids and continued flatulence while citing the Fall Guy featuring Lee Majors.

"We leave the place because we are told to," I advised. "We also continue terror upon those who oppose us. Don't summon the devil; don't summon a priest; this is the abortion of the common man - the world is a fecal buffet and you're holding the first plate in your disgusting little "must see TV hands": enjoy, you ungrateful pile of genetic human excrement commonly referred in today's society as a businessman! Your prowess is nothing compared to the denigration of the nautical spices of which the continent is exposed and you shall forever suffer as a consequence."

Then we returned home.

The_Sponge: whidbey: Deserves a farking HERO tag.

Sick of our Naziesque airport security.


HERO tag?

You know, whoever unplugged the metal detector. Or whatever. (DRTFA.)

BTW I got a chuckle out of your Ramones bit. Didn't know you had it in ya....;)

Whoa....double post fever...with EDITS.

Not only is that a TSA goon failure, that's a design failure. There should be something visible, perhaps a green/red LED that is green when the unit is powered on, but then goes red when metal goes through the detector. There are any number of easy ways to design this type of user error right out of the product.

oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

THIS was the other thing that immediately came to mind. Goddamn, how ineffective can these idiots be?

oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

Prank Call of Cthulhu: Two flights had to be called back to Terminal 7 and their passengers had to undergo rescreening after Transportation Security Officer Alija Abdul Majed noticed the lane he had been working was operating with a non-functioning metal detector.


I realize that stereotyping and profiling is a slippery slope but the 2 previous comments, taken as a whole, raise the possibility that there could still be more going on here.

I mean, I know the "Really?!" was in jest but how do you operate a metal detector for a living and not find it amazing that every single person going through for the past hour has had no metal of any sort on them (belts, underwire, keys, etc) and that there are no status lights lit up on the machine.

Either this article or Alija Abdul Majed is lying. I've been through metal detectors. I've been in line at metal detectors. If you unplugged one and THREE people went through it in a row without the thing going nuts because of a quarter, a belt buckle, or some orthopedic shoes, everyone would notice that the machine was awful quiet lately.
Also, there visible lights on the machine when in operation. TSA agents are told to look for a green light. There couldn't have been a green light. TSA agents hired from pizza boxes, and THIS is what supposedly makes us safer? Think of how many people needlessly took off their belts only to walk through a nonfunctioning detector.

This article tells us that if a terrorist wants to bring whatever metal he wants, all he has to do is have an accomplish distract the TSA agents while he unplugs the detector. They're morons, so it will work 7 out of 10 times. Anyone who says they aren't morons gets treated to seven hundred articles on TSA agents making people dump out their shampoo, throw away their nail clippers, and tons of other things.

I want to see the statistics on the number of harmless items confiscated vs the number of people prosecuted for firearms and other concealed genuine weapons.

And why can metal detectors simply be unplugged, why aren't they hard-wired? You have to plug it into an outlet, right? I doubt anything else is being plugged into those outlets, so remove the outlets and wire the detectors directly into the power line. Even if they didn't do that from the start, you'd think after a dozen of these and similar episodes, someone would at least give it a shot.

oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

I've always wondered that as well. Just plug it back in and move on. Not really a greater chance of missing something in that scenario than the things they miss (or don't bother to look for) all the time.

The_Sponge: whidbey: Whoa....double post fever...with EDITS.


Ha! And thank you.

I see where you're coming from, but all those passengers still had to be re-screened. IMHO, the HERO tag would be perfect if the passengers didn't have to go through that.

Whatever it takes to get people pissed off about this embarrassing holdover from the Bush years.

I'd say God is the HERO, but I'm an atheist. :D

Neato: oren0: It doesn't seem like rescreening passengers would help here. Doesn't this effectively require searching the whole airport? If someone snuck through security with a gun or something, they could easily hide it somewhere on the secure side and then be rescreened. That is, of course, if security was actually about stopping anything.

Not only this, but every US airport I've been to has a MASSIVE security hole for domestic flights. At security they check your ID and boarding pass. At the gate they only scan your boarding pass to make sure it beeps. You could easily switch boarding passes with anyone past security and go anywhere. And don't get me started about how useless the No-Fly-List us.

The real security hole is that you can print out a fake boarding pass with ease. Just move some flight numbers/dates around in photoshop. You used to have to put some effort into making the paper itself look legit, but everyone prints their own pass at home now. The boarding pass is a completely insecure document, so checking it in any way is the height of security theater.

I might be going out on a limb here but-

This "Alija Abdul Majed" fellow is probably a terrorist.

Someone should probably check his body to see if he's carrying any illegal weapons or explosives.

The_Sponge: whidbey: Whatever it takes to get people pissed off about this embarrassing holdover from the Bush years.

I'd say God is the HERO, but I'm an atheist. :D


The TSA has to be a prime example of "both sides are bad". You have one party that was responsible for starting it, and another party that continues on the same path. If you're talking about the current administration, Janet Napolitano is the worst.

Both sides ARE bad, so vote Republican for people who want to do away with the TSA.

I disagree. I think the only reason we still have this sh*t is because of the Republicans.

If Obama or the Dems in the Senate tried to squelch the TSA, they would be handed a world of sh*t about how they aren't tough on terror.

It's really our fault as the voters who aren't demanding that both parties fight to remove this crap, or that the Dems grow a spine against right-wing bullies who think we need to be Tough Guy Nation.

vernonFL: [reveriehound.com image 400x300]

Shakes tiny fist

Fish in a Barrel: Neato: oren0:

The real security hole is that you can print out a fake boarding pass with ease. Just move some flight numbers/dates around in photoshop. You used to have to put some effort into making the paper itself look legit, but everyone prints their own pass at home now. The boarding pass is a completely insecure document, so checking it in any way is the height of security theater.

So, what is the big deal of printing a fake boarding pass (not that I believe for a second that you know how to encode a proper bar code on the thing)? You get to go through security...so what? You think you get a free flight? Suuuuure you will. Until the person who REALLY booked the seat your sitting in shows up, then you get to go to jail when they check your ID and find out you are not on the flight.

The_Sponge: whidbey: I disagree. I think the only reason we still have this sh*t is because of the Republicans.

If Obama or the Dems in the Senate tried to squelch the TSA, they would be handed a world of sh*t about how they aren't tough on terror.


I respectfully disagree, but if that is the case, then don't the Dems deserve blame for not standing up and trying? And how come they didn't attempt anything during the first two years of Obama's term when you had Dem majorities in both houses?

I believe they're too intimidated by the right wing in this country to make any sweeping decisions like that. If there's one issue where it's hard to change previous policy, it's national security and anything related to post-911.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if they moved to change said policy either next term or the term after that. They're overly cautious, but not stupid.

Repeat?

The TSA will never go away, no matter how badly we want them to. If we "ban the TSA", they'll just be replaced by the same people (or worse) working for private companies instead of the federal government. You can argue the merits or downsides of either one, but I personally tend to think that, like prisons or law enforcement, security of any kind is better handled by the government than the private sector. It is one of the few things I do think our government should be responsible for. I remember the pre-TSA screeners and they were almost all worse than what we have now.

It's still security theater and I still don't like it, but if you really want to avoid the TSA, it's quite easy to do: All you have to do is get a charter flight.