Airline Safety Goes into Reverse

[Guest fountainhall]

WTF!

 

It’s as though 9/11 never happened. On that day, it will be recalled, terrorists used box cutters to gain control of planes and murder almost 3,000 Americans.

 

Now, in what must be one of its most bizarre and ridiculous decisions, the US Transportation Safety Agency – the one responsible for SAFETY in the air – has ruled that “small pocket knives” can once again be carried on flights in the US. The reason?

“These are popular items we see regularly,” TSA spokesman David Castelveter said. “They don’t present a risk to transportation security.”

 

No risk? Well, the limits are that a blade can be no longer that 2.38” (6 cms) and no more than 1/2“ at its widest point. Now, isn’t that comforting! In other words, plenty of blade to sever a carotid artery in one swipe.

 

The TSA chief disagrees.

“There is just too much emotion involved with those,” TSA chief John Pistole said at the Brooklyn press conference where the changes were announced . . . “Frankly, I don’t want TSA agents to be delayed by these,” said Pistole.

 

So it’s the agents the TSA are protecting – not the public. Seems like lawmakers agree.

Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee, called the TSA’s move “a common sense decision . . . Freeing up the screeners to look for other threats (makes) the planes safer,” he said.

 

Safer! My ass! Put one of these knives against the Chief Purser’s throat and force her to cough up the code for the cockpit door – and see how safe that is, Mr King. Besides, how much time is it going to take for agents to measure each blade to make sure it falls within the proscribed limits? Oops, sorry, sir, Throw your blade away - it's 2.4". GOTCHA! YOUR EQUIPMENT'S TOO LONG! 

As one outraged passenger said, 

“They never learn,” he said of the feds, “I’ll take the train from now on.”

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/tsa-small-pocketknives-back-airplanes-time-9-11-article-1.1279964

[Bob]

All we need is a bunch of TSA agents with tape rulers trying to distinguish between a 2.39" blade and a 2.37" blade.  Hate to tell them but it'd just be wiser to ban all knives (which the public has been complying with for years).

 

There must be a law that requires a government worker to have no common/practical sense at all.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Any of those knives could easily slit the jugular.

[a447a]

"Put one of these knives against the Chief Purser’s throat and force her to cough up the code for the cockpit door"

 

There is video surveillance outside the cockpit door and the cockpit crew can see exactly what is going on.

And it is impossible for someone outside the cockpit to open the door.  Even an air marshall cannot get in.

 

But I'd hate to be that Chief Purser!

[Guest anonone]

I actually think it is a pretty good idea.  The knives in question are not exactly formidable weapons.  Hell, the cutlery in first class would probably be a better weapon than these puny little knives.

 

The lesson from 9-11 was not that a knife is a particularly impressive weapon.  The lesson is not to acquiesce to any potential threat on the plane.  If someone tries to take over the plane using one of these little pocket knives, I guarantee they are going to get their ass pummeled by many angry passengers.

[Guest scottishguy]

 I guarantee they are going to get their ass pummeled by many angry passengers.

 

My dear boy, 30,000ft up in the air and in the middle of a hijack is no time for group sodomy.

[a447a]

But of course, first class passengers are a different breed and they alone can be trusted with real cutlery.  lol

[Guest Jovianmoon]

But why, on Australian domestic flights, am I not allowed to carry my Gillette razor in my cabin baggage? Do they fear that I might force entry into the cockpit and threaten to shave off the captain's beard?

[Guest]

Considering the door to the cockpit should remain locked, carrying a small pocket knife on a plane is no more dangerous than carrying one on the ground.   So it makes sense to lift the restriction.

[Rogie]

A few years ago, I was really annoyed with myself to have my swiss knife (the kind with lots of gadgets and a very small, but sharp, knife) confiscated as I forgot to remove it from my carry-on stuff so it got picked up on the scanner. Another time I was carrying a small set of nail clippers which had a tiny nail file attached to it. It got picked up on the scan and I watched in bewilderment as the guy gleefully pointed to the file and ripped it off. I suppose it could have ben used to stab somebody but it was barely an inch long, certainly no bigger.

[Guest fountainhall]

I understand the reasons for the views agreeing with the TSA's decision. I suppose if you take things to the extreme, a bottle of duty free liquor is about as lethal a weapon as you need if you want to kill someone. I did not realise the restrictions on cockpit access were so strict. But I still think permitting any form of sharp knife which can kill with one swipe is daft (and I'm not sure the on-board cutlery would be sharp enough to inflict a mortal wound without a few stabs). In such a situation, would the passengers take charge? Probably, if it occurred in or close to the main cabin. But if it happens close to the cockpit door or in a galley, it might be some time before any passenger or air marshall was aware of it (assuming there was a marshall on that particular flight).

 

I'm glad to see that the CEO of Delta has come out against the change of regulation.

 

Re nail clippers, I was once on my way from BKK to Europe via HKG. As I was about to board the first flight, I noticed I had a small ragnail and was desperate to get some nail clippers. I was sure it would drive me mad throughout the night. At Hong Kong airport, after the security check, I went to a Watson's store to see if I could find something which would help. Lo and behold! Several sizes of nail clippers! So much for not being able to get them through security!

[Guest anonone]

I saw a follow up article which mentions that these knives have been allowed all along by European regulations...this just brings the US in further alignment with the rest of the world. 

 

Interesting how the US media has blown this into hysteria.  Its not like our European friends have had planes falling from the sky and sieges upon the cockpit door because they have allowed these knives on board. 

[Guest fountainhall]

As I understand them, the EU regulations are minimum requirements and airlines have their own regulations. All the airlines I have flown into and out of EU airspace in recent years have had signs on the check-in counters making it quite clear that any form of knife or sharp instrument is not permitted on board. British Airways printed regulations state - 

 

Small knives and scissors can be packed in your checked in baggage.

 

Air France says -

 

For your security, some items are strictly prohibited on board. They will be confiscated at baggage control - Knives and any similar items.

 

And it's not just the airlines which seem to prohibit knives and pointed weapons, the security companies manning checkpoints seem to take no notice of which airline you are on. KLM does permit knives with blades up to 6 cms, but I'll bet any KLM passenger boarding at London Heathrow will have such knives confiscated! 

[ChristianPFC]

What an asinine idea! People know that they can't take sharp objects on a plane, and if you forget to take them out of your pocket, it's your fault. Yes, it can be unfair, but it's simple and everyone understands it. I once had to leave a jar of hazelnut spread in Germany at the airport (I should have argued that it's solid because it was in the freezer, and not a paste).

 

So it makes sense to lift the restriction.

 

The key is simplicity. "No knives" is simple. Just image all the additional work required to check if the knife fulfils the requirements.

 

I wondered about the metal knife and fork I once got for dining (or rather eating) in an airplane.

 

Anyway, it's always the unexpected. No matter how many rules there are, someone will come up with something different, see the "shoe-bomber".