Bringing an inflatable PFD on a plane

[disco192]

So, just for clarification, I am flying on a JetBlue flight from Austin to Long Beach, CA.

The rules I know are:

TSA ALLOWS CO2 containers to be carried on a plane if they are used for a personal life vest.

JetBlue specifically states that I cannot take a CO2 device on board, even if it is for a PFD.

So...

Here is my question.

If I carry on the PFD, is TSA aware of the individual rules of each airline or not? Will they look up the JetBlue rules and deny it, or will they let me go on my way? If I check it, will I run into any issues? Should I just avoid any hassles and just send it UPS?

One thing to note, I have removed the CO2 container and arming assembly from the rest of the vest, so if push comes to shove, I can simply remove the CO2 container and replace it without having to buy a whole new re-arming kit (the CO2 is $20 bucks, the rearming kit is $75).

Thanks,
Stu

[Oyvind]

What's the carrier worried about? There are already two CO2 cartridges under every seat in the plane.

[Ex-Calif]

TSA will not necessarily know the rules of the airline not would they apply them. They are reponsible for TSA rules.

I would call JetBlue. Airlines are weird. If you take it through TSA and then try to "get' it aboard the flight and subsequently get caught, they may deny you boarding rather than just pitch the cartridge.

If it were me i probably wouldn't have thought about the rules (I'm stupid that way) and would have packed it in my check in without thinking about it.

[GordMay]

While the new TSA policy allows boaters to carry a compressed gas cylinder (CO2) through airport security, the decision on whether the cylinder can be taken on board a plane still lies with the airline company the passenger is flying with.
The amended TSA policy calls for “a compressed gas cylinder exception for both carry-on and checked baggage that allows 2 compressed gas cylinders fitted into a self-inflating life-jacket and 2 spare cartridges with the approval of the aircraft operator.” This amendment by the TSA now is in line with policies that were already in place at the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Coast Guard.

See JetBlue Contract item 15 “Dangerous Goods”:
Jet Blue Contract of carriage

And the previous discussion at:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...co2-15546.html

[hellosailor]

"TSA ALLOWS CO2 containers" Officially the TSA and the FAA both allow it, and the airlines are REQUIRED TO ALLOW IT because there are UN international carrier conventions that define this as "life saving equipment" which MUST be allowed in the cabin.

The fly in the ointment is that your local airport TSA manager has discretionary authority to ban pretty much anything they please. And most, if not all, of them will ban ALL SEALED CONTAINERS. You might be carrying Sarin gas in there, they don't know and they don't care. Expect the CO2 bottles to be confiscated along with the entire PFD if you try to carry them onboard.

Actual reports from flying sailors indicate there is no consistent policy actually in effect--or on the books.

Gord, I'm sorry to disagree but the "approval of the airline" is not relevant here, except if the airline BANS them, which they are not allowed to do (international agreement). Even if the airline allows them, the TSA soda-jerk can confiscate them.

Earlier this week, the TSA and laptop bag makers announced a new policy which will allow passengers to carry laptops onboard without removing them from their cases, if the new cases meet a new standard for being easily xrayed, i.e. just fabric and padding, no metal, no cords or cables in the bag. Well...I've tried putting my laptop through that way. One inspector will allow it when I say "There's nothing but the laptop, no cables no nothing they can see right through it". The next inspector simply doesn't care and refuses it--even though it meets the same new standards that are to be accepted.

And (be afraid) there's a lead plate under my laptop, totally opaque to the xray machine. That's only caught the attention of ONE inspector, ONCE. The rest apparently don't care what is on the screen--as long as it doesn't include fabric.

TSA: Domestic terrorism in operation. Sorry, but all it does is spread fear and waste money.

[disco192]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"TSA ALLOWS CO2 containers" Officially the TSA and the FAA both allow it, and the airlines are REQUIRED TO ALLOW IT because there are UN international carrier conventions that define this as "life saving equipment" which MUST be allowed in the cabin.

The fly in the ointment is that your local airport TSA manager has discretionary authority to ban pretty much anything they please. And most, if not all, of them will ban ALL SEALED CONTAINERS. You might be carrying Sarin gas in there, they don't know and they don't care. Expect the CO2 bottles to be confiscated along with the entire PFD if you try to carry them onboard.

Actual reports from flying sailors indicate there is no consistent policy actually in effect--or on the books.

Gord, I'm sorry to disagree but the "approval of the airline" is not relevant here, except if the airline BANS them, which they are not allowed to do (international agreement). Even if the airline allows them, the TSA soda-jerk can confiscate them.

Earlier this week, the TSA and laptop bag makers announced a new policy which will allow passengers to carry laptops onboard without removing them from their cases, if the new cases meet a new standard for being easily xrayed, i.e. just fabric and padding, no metal, no cords or cables in the bag. Well...I've tried putting my laptop through that way. One inspector will allow it when I say "There's nothing but the laptop, no cables no nothing they can see right through it". The next inspector simply doesn't care and refuses it--even though it meets the same new standards that are to be accepted.

And (be afraid) there's a lead plate under my laptop, totally opaque to the xray machine. That's only caught the attention of ONE inspector, ONCE. The rest apparently don't care what is on the screen--as long as it doesn't include fabric.

TSA: Domestic terrorism in operation. Sorry, but all it does is spread fear and waste money.

How's that tin foil hat fit?

[hellosailor]

Dsico, if you don't see a danger in an organization that professes providing safety--while it ignores the real problems and creates massive costs and delays but provides only an illusion of the same--perhaps you should remember that pre 9/11, airline security standards all over the world EXCEPT IN THE US were sufficient, without the dog and pony show. Instead of spending money on the dog and pony show, we could simply pay the sky marshals to ride armed on the planes. That's all it took to stop terrorists from attempting the same thing all over the rest of the world, and that's all it took to stop three other hijackings earlier in 2001.

The false promise of safety is the greatest danger of all. Banning life saving equipment is the least of the collateral damage.

And, fwiw, the US had armed sky marshals on aircraft in the 70's and 80's. You know why we didn't have them in 2001? Because the airline industry said "They cost too much" and Congress quietly agreed to shut them down. Yathink they saved the $50 BILLION dollars that 9/11 is estimated to have cost? I don't. But their management got rich in the process.