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Brewgyver · 31-10-2019, 10:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by a64pilot

But what the heck could I have done with 3lb bags of bird shot? I don’t see how you could make that into a weapon, boot laces or a belt certainly, but a small bag of bird shot?

Look at it from their point of view.
Ever seen a sap? No, not the two legged kind...

Funny you mention boot laces. Tie stout boot laces to a bag of lead shot and you have a very lethal weapon indeed.

Stewie12 · 31-10-2019, 10:39

A64Security. You can complain to Homeland Security I did and it took about 2 months for them to sort it out. Like you I had problems entering the USA. Even to the point that on leaving I was told that I was not going to be allowed to leave. I was on a person of interest list because I was a US trained pilot and after 911 every foreigner who was, was on the list. After I complained I received a letter of apology and it never happened again

Ardbeg · 31-10-2019, 10:45

A couple of points. I worked in London for 5 years and yes the airport agents are awful. THey think they are on a power trip. THey are usually visible minorities who feel they should take out all the wrong done to them in their lives on PAX. I have had problems a few times with PFD where I have lost the cannister to them. Thus I always carry a spare cannister in checked luggage. They can be hard to find in remote ports. I also now carry a pfd from a plane seat. They cannot argue about that. I have never had a problem with a sat phone and always carry one.

FabioC · 31-10-2019, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

Could a device listed as VHF actually be something else?

Would the airport security team have tools to prove this will not interfere with airline traffic or electronics?

If the battery is removed, would that increase the comfort level?
If VHF radio is a transmitter as well as receiver, that opens up a can of worms. I could see security not being sure what to do about it, and throwing it out. It is not something they see a lot of, so it becomes a threat.

Taking off the battery is not an option, because if they have a problem with it, they will certainly ask you to turn it on. If your VHF has such a feature, make sure that when it turns on, it goes to the weather channels, not to 16, be polite, nod, smile, and say something like: "yes, it gives you weather forecast all the time". I think what makes them nervous is the white noise when you turn it on (or, worse, the beeping for missing MMSI) because it surprises them and makes them think it is something dangerous.

tarian · 31-10-2019, 13:32

never heard so much moaning about people following their protocol depending on the EU safety for airports,
I also find it distasteful the amount of abuse people are getting for just doing their Jobs , and people looking down at them on this forum , just shows that Boating is a rich man game with the usual crap that goes with it .

As for airport security the UK, France are potential targets due to their influence in the middle east , no one wants to blow up a Portuguese plane , and the last plane to go down was a Russian plane from Egypt because of chenchen muslin fanatics(fanatics means not nice people ) , so next time you get your 3 mins of waiting and huffing and puffing about security just remember no British plane has been blown out of the sky , interesting that , maybe its the security/

denverd0n · 31-10-2019, 14:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarian

never heard so much moaning about people following their protocol...

You seem to have missed the point. They were NOT "following their protocol." According to all of the protocols, a handheld VHF radio is completely acceptable as a carry-on item. In the case of the OP, the particular security individual that he had to deal with decided to arbitrarily CHANGE the protocol, and not allow an item that he should have allowed. If, in fact, they had followed protocol this thread never would have been started.

And therein lies the problem. They quite often do not know the actual protocols, so they just make stuff up as they go along. That is a very poor way to administer security, and is a really BAD way for an organization in a position of authority to operate!

Cpt Pat · 31-10-2019, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by a64pilot

His big question was why does my FAA licenses have someone else’s picture on them. I replied smiling that’s a picture of the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur.
I mean for Gods sake it was two different people dressed in not period clothes and a black and white photo, and he thought I was trying to use someone else’s photo?

Kinda makes one long for the days when FAA licenses came on a paper card that you had to cut out along the dotted line with scissors. I suspect the FAA is trying to humiliate pilots with lousy-looking credentials.

I've had the opposite experience with TSA diligence: seeing them pass truly scary things through the screening. I once had a gentleman in front of me in line that passed a 2KW Honda generator through. It has a handle, so it must be safe, right? He was going to walk merrily through until I piped up saying: "Hey. That's a gasoline generator!" He then tried passing it off as newly out of the box with no fuel. I showed the agent how to open the fuel cap and said: "take a sniff. If it smells like gasoline inside, it's not new." You could hear the gas sloshing around inside.

kayakerChuck · 31-10-2019, 18:50

I have had various government authorities crawl through my life for various credentials I needed.

Still, I have pulled aside for special processing on every single flight segment post 9/11. I no longer fly. It's not worth the hassle.

I have also been pulled from my car, at gun point (lots of guns), when crossing from Canada to the good ol' USA. Some bad guy had the same name as me. Ya think? Chuck Smith??

As a friend who works for the border patrol says, "We're bored, and paid by the hour".

Cpt Pat · 31-10-2019, 19:23

I have a TWIC card (Transportation Worker Identification Credential). I grumbled when the USCG made me get one with my master license. It turned out to be a great investment. TSA takes one look at it, and treats me really well.

It means I passed a background check. TSA really doesn't know who they're dealing with, and a driver license doesn't mean you aren't a scary outlaw.

Sailor 99 · 31-10-2019, 20:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

It's daft. Oh there was once a plot to blow up a plane with some liquid, so now there's all that rigmarole with 100ml bottles in plastic bags. Yet outside of the EU you can happily carry litres of liquids. In Isreal (where threats are obviously much greater) there is no messing around taking computers out of bags, taking belts and shoes off or any of that none-sense.

Its about appearing to do something, not actually doing something. There is a very large difference.

Sailor 99 · 31-10-2019, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Going to Cyprus I wanted to dive on the Zenobia a ferry that sank and is a good dive, I weighed my luggage to find that it was overweight so I took some of the lead soft weights out and put them in my carry on that isn’t weighed.
Well security didn’t like those bags of bird shot, couldn’t figure out what they were for, didn’t understand why I had them even after explaining several times, luckily the supervisor understood.
But what the heck could I have done with 3lb bags of bird shot? I don’t see how you could make that into a weapon, boot laces or a belt certainly, but a small bag of bird shot?

Similar experience with diving weights and a reg... They were worried we would hurt someone with the regs...

Sailor 99 · 31-10-2019, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

It's little to do with political correctness; it's because for the all the post 9-11 pearl-clutching over threats, we are doing airport screening using the cheapest possible labour and a set of arbitrary rules. The Israeli screeners are professionals, trained to read people, not "stuff".

This ^^^^^ Your not working security at the airport because you have tons of other options that pay better. It is not something that I would like to do.

**a64pilot** · 31-10-2019, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

Look at it from their point of view.

Ever seen a sap? No, not the two legged kind...

Funny you mention boot laces. Tie stout boot laces to a bag of lead shot and you have a very lethal weapon indeed.

You really wouldn’t for several reasons, first no room to swing the thing in an airplane and secondly because it’s a three lb weight, but it’s a soft three lb weight.
But a belt or especially a boot lace is an extremely effective Garrote.
A piece of steel fishing leader wire is even better.
A hat pin is as bad as an ice pick, same for a knitting needle.
The reason why a box knife worked so well for the 911 hijackers was it’s wasn’t prohibited, but obviously still an effective weapon.

Pro’s may not try to smuggle on something prohibited, but may figure out how to weaponize something that isn’t. An old mans walking cane for instance is a very fearsome weapon for someone who knows what to do with it. They can kill you easily, crush your larynx for instance.

bobnlesley · 31-10-2019, 20:40

The biggest pull we had was at Manchester Ringway Airport en-route to Greece:
The carry on bag went through the scanner three times, with more security officers viewing it on each pass, during which we noticed security holding back everyone else from coming through the scanner-arch, another security guy ushered those already ahead of us away, whilst three armed police surrounded us at a distance of perhaps 10m. For what? A turnip; I presume that on their scanner it looked like the classic cartoon/silent movie bomb?