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A TSA agent asked me if I noticed that they didn't take the CPAP to swab it. He said that they have new technology that allows them to check it when it goes down the conveyor belt. It's more convenient. They just have new technology, not new rules.

BlackSpinner wrote:And here is another one
nail clippers more dangerous then assault rifle

TSA does have some stupid and out of date rules as evidenced in the nail clipper link.

I remember in the mid 80's while on a trip to Japan and taking a flight within Japan. Keep in mind this took place over 25 yrs ago and say 15yrs BEFORE 911.

1st observation was a check point about 1 mile away from the airport where we all had to get off the bus with our luggage and have it examined. Noted at this check point is an armored tank and a soldier with a machine gun pointed in our direction.

After making it into the airport terminal and going thru xray it was discovered that I was carrying with me some silverware. That's right forks, spoons, and a butter knife or two. I was afraid I would have to eat with chopsticks (stop it). I was.

In any case, security personnel confiscated the butter knives saying it could be used as a weapon but let me keep the forks which I thought were better weapons, go figure. However comma they put them into an envelope with my name on it and told me I could pick them up when we landed. Now that is planning. Stuff happens. Instead of making us feel like idiots for carrying things like nail clippers or scissors, etc. we should be given the option to pick them up at the other end.

ps. I was so embarassed I never claimed the butter knives.
True Story

They have stopped swabbing CPAPs 'cause they're too busy "touching your junk"!!!

After going thru the new "no-swab scanner", my M-Series APAP has an eerie blue glow at night.

What concerns me is the idea that all these inspections will keep us safe. They won't, necessarily. I spent 15 yrs directly involved in the field of quality assurance. There is an axiom in the more forward thinking quality field that says, "Inspection guarantees defects." The reason this is so is because of the physical reality of sampling. Back during WW II the Army developed what is called Military Standard 105, Sampling for Inspection. There are a whole series of charts to guide inspectors on how many samples need to be taken from a lot to determine if the lot meets requirements. To simplify things lets say you have a lot of 1 million ammo rounds, and you want to be as sure as possible there are no more than 100 bad rounds in the lot. A chart will show how many rounds you will have to inspect to be, say 99.9% positive, there are no more than 100 bad ones in there. Right off the bat you should be able to grasp the idea that to be 100% positive there are no bad rounds in the lot you will have to test all of them, i.e., 100% of the lot. In the case of ammo you do the inspection by firing the rounds. Obviously, if you test 100% of the rounds you have nothing left to send to the troops!

Now, out of 10 million passengers boarding airplanes, if only 1 is a bad apple and is carrying explosives that won't set off a metal detector, how many do you have to scan with advanced technology to make sure you catch him? 100%. Of course, 100% of the passengers are not going through body scanners or pat downs, as I understand. If only 20% of the passengers are being subjected to the FBS and PD there is a very high likelihood the bad apple can get through. What's the best alternative to 100% FBS and PD? I don't know. With ammo you control the manufacturing process very closely. That approach works. I don't know how you control what people carry on themselves, or with themselves, other than send an inspector to observe them get dressed and prepare their carry ons while getting ready to go on a trip. A stupid idea, and grossly impractical.

Now, can you get a better sense of the extent of the dilemma TSA faces?

CAR TRIP!

chunkyfrog wrote:CAR TRIP!

Feel this....what is it?

The pat-down is just for people who decline to be scanned. If there is no scanner, then there is no pat-down either.

Not sure about that. Enhanced pat-down is not just for decliners; it is also at times for (1) those picked at random, (2) anyone who trips a metal detector (or does so twice at some airports), and (3) anyone with a blurry spot when full-scanned, as I understand it, as of this writing.

"If an alarm goes off during screening by the new scanner or regular metal detectors, any passenger will be subject to an enhanced pat-down." -- http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la- ... 8199.story

Buying a ticket is, in essence, in my opinion, volunteering to submit to martial law, since air travel now seems to be considered as in a constant state of emergency in the fight against terrorism.

Martial law nationwide with no choice for anyone is one thing. But buying a ticket for the privilege of submitting oneself to martial law is something else completely. Why should I do that, as a civilian, unless I absolutely have to? Therefore, my choice is not to fly for the time being, at least until the present mess gets sorted out. But I can only do that because it happens to be my luxury at the moment not to have to agree to fly anywhere any time soon.

On 10-22-10, my PAP machine was thoroughly swabbed at LaGuardia; on 11-1-10, it was completely ignored in Louisville.

So.well writes...So these are the same type of government agencies that are going to straighten out your medical care?

And, this is a darned good question. As a career government scientist who had a good look at the sausage being made, I can confirm that you have every reason to be concerned about what government medical care may become; and, that the TSA provides a reasonable advance peek into the level of cluelessness that will have authority over our lives. (In other words, its not a "random thought", n'est ce pas?)


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Nancy Pelosi will be flying commercial next year. Lets see if her body parts are groped like everyone else.

kempo wrote:Nancy Pelosi will be flying commercial next year. Lets see if her body parts are groped like everyone else.

Nancy will be looking forward to the attention.

My guess is if the pilots & stewardess's have to - Nancy will too.

My CPAP also only needed to go through the standard conveyor belt on my most recent air travel. No manual inspection or swab.

I asked TSA what had changed, and was told that the previous policy had been reevaluated since ever more CPAPs that folks are traveling with are newer models which have much smaller motors than prior models. The large motors had presented a scanning difficulty ("hard to see around") and so they defaulted to manual inspection with swab as a rule for all CPAPs. Now the general policy is to let CPAPs through the scanner, and the scan operator has some discretion to request that the machine be either unpacked or not (most likely depending on their skill level or experience).

The operator presumably also has the discretion to flag any older machines. Since I have a newer machine, I didn't think to ask if owners of older machines might still expect them to always be subjected to the manual inspection and swab after the scan identifies their larger motor.

nice youtube explanation...
explanation

BlackSpinner wrote:nice youtube explanation...
explanation

lmao 9 1 1
I mean 9 eleven

The more I read the threads, the more I'm considering to take a direct flight next time I'm going South to avoid a free groping in a USA airport. I will put everything in the bac, watch, ear rings, money, denture (just joking I don't have one), shoes, glasses, did I forgot something? I don't want that alarm to get off

Yes I know there is the security issue but if I can avoid the risk of having an enhanced pat-down I'll do it. I think the airlines will start having a hard time again as it was after 9/11.

rosacer wrote:The more I read the threads, the more I'm considering to take a direct flight next time I'm going South to avoid a free groping in a USA airport. I will put everything in the back, watch, ear rings, money, denture (just joking I don't have one), shoes, glasses, did I forgot something? I don't want that alarm to get off

Yes I know there is the security issue but if I can avoid the risk of having an enhanced pat-down I'll do it. I think the airlines will start having a hard time again as it was after 9/11.

Yes you forgot your falsies.
Flight attendant has to remove breast prosthesis