[url]http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=business&cat=aviation_security[/url]
 AP World Politics

Airports' Thanksgiving seizures: 15,982 knives and a brick
Tue Dec 3, 6:09 PM ET  

By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Some passengers still haven't gotten the word about what they can and can't take on airplanes. Seized at airports during the American Thanksgiving holiday crush: 15,982 pocket knives, 98 boxcutters, six guns and a brick.

 

Still, transportation officials said the airport chaos predicted by many never occurred. Passengers waited less than 10 minutes on average at security checkpoints during the first holiday travel season since an all-federal work force took over screening.


Michael Wascom, spokesman for a group representing the major airlines, said operations were generally smooth even with bad weather in some places. "Passengers moved efficiently through the airports, and customer service standards were upheld," said Wascom, spokesman for the Air Transport Association.


Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the government has tightened restrictions on what can be taken on board a plane.


Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said many holiday travelers are inexperienced fliers and don't realize they can't take knives, scissors, fireworks or ammunition onto planes. If they try to, the prohibited items will be confiscated. Passengers also could be prosecuted, a decision made by law enforcement officials depending on the item and the circumstances.


Between Tuesday and Sunday, six people who tried to carry guns onto planes were arrested.


At the 38 busiest U.S. airports over the Thanksgiving holiday, 1,072 clubs or bats were confiscated, 3,242 banned tools and 2,384 flammable items, including a welding gun. Another 20,581 sharp objects — such as scissors, ice picks and meat cleavers — also were stopped at the checkpoints. Someone tried to bring a toy cannon made of live ammunition onto a plane at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.


A man tried to carry a brick onto a plane at Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) National Airport in Washington.


"I don't know why he would carry a brick," Johnson said.


The prohibited items are turned over to local police, where they're either kept as evidence or thrown away, Johnson said.


The TSA hopes to better educate people about what they can take onto airplanes by Christmas, when air travel will be complicated by new gate check procedures and many more checked bags screened for explosives.

"We would expect that, with the Christmas holiday, a lot of these people will

"I don't know why he would carry a brick," Johnson said


It's obvious the guy was running late, didn't want to miss a flight and didn't have time to make a pit stop. He was just too polite and conscientious to leave the brick lying around unattended. Al Queda could have picked it up and the entire nation would be in danger.

I found a 8-inch screwdriver in my briefcase after clearing security at the airport recently.  They must have thought it was a steel pen or something when they x-rayed it.

A brick of WHAT?

[peep]

You'd think people would learn.  Personally, I think every 3d intelligent (oops, how are we gonna do that?) person should be [b]given[/b] a knife when they get on the plane.  That way, if somebody starts something with a knife, we'll only lose one or two people instead of an entire plane load and/or ground target.  After Sept. 11th, a bunch of pissed-off Americans would be more than willing to risk injury or death, rather than going peacefully to a sudden end.

Even if they did manage to get a gun on board, three determined people could still take them out.  

If someone attempts to highjack an aircraft I'm on with a gun, knife, or whatever I don't care I'm fighting back.

WASHINGTON, DC—Seeking to address "the number-one threat to airline security," the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that it will consider banning passengers on all domestic and international commercial flights.

 
"In every single breach of security in recent years, whether it was an act of terrorism or some other form of crime, it was a passenger who subverted the safety systems on board the aircraft or in the terminal," FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. "Even threats that came in the form of explosives inside baggage were eventually traced back to a ticketed individual. As great a revenue source as they have been, passengers simply represent too great a risk to the airline industry."

 
Under the proposed reforms, the FAA would institute a strict ban on adult passengers, passengers 18 and under, international travelers, and domestic customers. A battery of questions and ID checks will be used to determine whether an individual is a pilot, flight attendant, or federal security officer—the only humans who will be allowed to board an aircraft flying within or headed for the U.S.

In addition, security sensors installed at all gates will sound an alarm if they detect the presence of a 98.6-degree body temperature, and airport-security workers will be trained to spot and positively identify humans in the boarding area.

"Frankly, we've tried everything else," Blakey said. "We've put up more metal detectors, searched carry-on luggage, and prohibited passengers from traveling with sharp objects. Yet passengers still somehow continue to find ways to breach security. Clearly, the passengers have to go."

Customers who have already purchased tickets for flights scheduled to take place after the ban's enactment will receive a voucher good for travel to their final destination by bus or train. Should such transportation prove unavailable or inadequate, passengers on most major airlines will receive either a portion of their airfare refunded or a coupon redeemable for a future flight, from which they will also be banned.

"We realize that these new regulations would, for many air travelers, be a major inconvenience," Blakey said. "But we feel strongly that it's a small price to pay to ensure the safety of our skies."

While the ban's primary purpose would be to improve security, FAA spokesman John Gemberling said it would help the airlines' economic future, as well. As evidence, he pointed to the $7.7 billion losses posted by major airlines in 2001—much of which came in the wake of Sept. 11—and the $6 billion increase in passenger-screening costs since the tragedy.

 "We've been stretched as thin as we can go," Gemberling said. "New bag-tracking measures ensure that a passenger is on the same flight as his or her luggage, but do little to eliminate the threat of said passenger placing an explosive in the luggage. All bags are currently being screened with bomb-detection machines, but even these $1 million devices are only equipped to detect a limited range of the most conventional explosives."

Added Gemberling: "They're certainly not going to be much help stopping the next guy who wants to blow up a plane with something like a shoe."

Even the stiff measures included in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which President Bush recently signed into law, have proven inadequate.

"Improved explosive-detection systems, fortified cockpit doors, more plainclothes sky marshals aboard planes, and mandatory anti-hijacking training for flight crews—none of it could eliminate the possibility of another Sept. 11 with 100 percent certainty," Gemberling said. "This will."

"We've tried every possible alternative, but nothing has worked," Gemberling continued. "For all our efforts, we keep coming back to the same central problem: humans."

Man ...  I WILL NOT FLY without a knife on my person.  This has always been the way for me, and always will be.  so untill they change this STUPID rule I guess I will not be supporting the airlines in any way.  I urge others to do the same.



Rant off.

My carry on has two billiard balls in it...the cue and the 8.  I midlenght socks......this will make #1 ball a very deadly projectile from a distance (baseball/softball player for 20 years now) and #2 ball will make an excellent mace to swing around or down around a knife wielding arm or slam on their head.

When security checks (they always do) I explain that I am a billiards player and these are my lucky billiard balls.

Hasn't failed yet....

Ed