Flying with turning tools ... mini rant ...

[Ron Smith ... Richmond, VA]

My brother who lives in Eagle, Idaho and I recently visited relatives for a family reunion in Carrollton, Kentucky and since he's just started to turn, I took him some gifts. I had an extra Jacob's chuck and some wine stopper kits for him, along with the drill bit and screw to turn on his new Jet Mini. After the reunion was over, it seems when he went through the screen at the Cincy airport, they questioned what all of the items were. The guy at the screen told him they couldn't let any of it go on the plane since he wasn't sure what the metal stoppers were, at which point my brother asked to see the supervisor.

The supervisor showed up, took one look and said "hey, how long have you been turning? I've made a bunch of those stoppers and pens myself". They got to talking and the supervisor was going to let my brother take everything on, but the screener asked "what about this chuck key? He has the drill bit, the holder and this (holding up the chuck key) and could use it as a weapon if he puts the bit in the other thing".

The supervisor asked my brother if the drill bit was worth leaving the line after waiting 35 minutes for their turn to be screened and mailing it to himself, and my brother told him "no". So in the end, my brother was allowed on the plane with two lighters, a bottle of Myland's friction polish, the drill chuck, chuck screw, metal stoppers and his "leatherman" tool in his carry-on ... but no drill bit. Go figure. Thank goodness we have these people protecting the skies as we fly.

[Dennis Peacock]

Well....at least he got home with the "important" pieces. Replacing a drill bit is cheap considering the cost of replacing a chuck they wouldn't let onboard. Glad all went ok and at least he was able to meet someone at the airport that KNEW what those things were. BTW, congrats on sharing ww'ing with your family members. Wish mine were interested in ww'ing.

[John Hart]

...So in the end, my brother was allowed on the plane with two lighters.....

Yeah...I just heard that you could take a lighter but you can't take matches because the shoe bomber had matches.

I, I, I just don't get it.

[Harry Goodwin]

How in the world did he get a leatherman tool on an airplane in his luggage. I own three leatherman tools and several Gerber's. I would never call them insignificaant since they have at least one blade and maybe two.
Woodturners are a tight bunch arn't they. Harry

[Carole Valentine]

Wow...I really feel safe flying our skies! Think I will just stay put! BTW...Mylands has to be shipped by ground when you order it!

[Jerry Clark]

I recently got stopped by screeners -- they found something in the bottom of my camera bag-- took it apart and four times through the xray for them to finally get it out--a two inch allen wrench stuck under the bottom. Had been there forever and on other flights. They confiscated it . Could have taken a pencil or pen on -- go figure! Many years ago a co-worker had a pen that shot a 38 out the top-- looked just like a pen. Always wondered if they would catch that.

[JayStPeter]

That security guy should be fired. Everyone should know better than to even try to take that kind of stuff on an airplane anymore.

Jay

[Jean Holland]

Last August, my husband and I went to San Antonio, TX for my son's Air Force Basic Training graduation. Naturally, we couldn't go there and not stop at Jointech. He has one of their systems. He bought some more stuff which included a long metal rod of about 18" (what exactly for, I'm not sure - but it could do some damage). We checked the big box that had some part in it, but carried the bag (with the long metal rod) without thinking. When we went security, they checked the bag twice , then asked who's it was. We were both dumbfounded and not certain what to do since we didn't want to leave it behind after just buying it. When my husband explained it was a tool, the guy said "okay" and let us have take it on the plane.

I really felt safe on that flight!

Also, knitting needles are approved to be taken on the flights now. I think I can do more damage with a knitting needle than an allen wrench!

[Frank Hagan]

Yeah...I just heard that you could take a lighter but you can't take matches because the shoe bomber had matches.

I, I, I just don't get it.

I thought it was the other way around ... I fly a moderate amount (25,000+ miles per year) and there's always a bin of lighters at the security check points.

I was flying on 9/11, so I don't begrudge the security people any of this. That was a scary day. The guys that hijacked the planes were carrying box cutters, which they were allowed to carry on. Carrying on tools is an invitation to "bathroom bomb-making", which is the next method some of the experts expect the bad guys to employ, or disabling the cockpit security.

[Frank Hagan]

Also, knitting needles are approved to be taken on the flights now. I think I can do more damage with a knitting needle than an allen wrench!

One of the things they do is observe how you react when they ask to search your bag, and when they pull the item out. Next time, note that there are at least two people there ... one is doing the "checking" and the other is observing you. Usually, there's a third farther away also observing you. They are REALLY checking you out, but you don't notice because you're looking at the guy rifling through your bag. Watch this next time you see someone being searched by the TSA. Its fascinating once you know what they are doing.

Your knitting needles could be used against a person, but they can't remove the nozzle from the oxygen bottles stored above row 1, and, using your lighter, allowing you to turn them into blow torches. Your knitting needles can't defeat the cockpit security doors to get at the controls. And they can't dissassemble the bathroom toilet shroud and allow you access to some of the plane's electrical and hydraulic controls. Tools aren't allowed on planes because they can cause an entire airliner to fall from the sky. And some things aren't allowed ... like butane lighters ... because they can be made into bombs on board (the next method that a lot of experts think the terrorists will use).

Some of the things don't make sense ... the Leatherman should never be allowed on board, for instance, and I winched when I saw them search a pilot in the early days after 9/11. But some of the things they do make a lot of sense ... if you know the reason for it.

[Kurt Aebi]

This is the exact reason that our technical service people no longer travel with their tools, nor do we try to ake any replacement circuit boards or stepping motors anymore. Now we UPS/Fed Ex them to their job site!

It is an inconvenience, but I'd rather be inconvenienced than killed by a lunatic.

It used to make me laugh, in the old days they took away my pocket screwdriver, but let me on with my swiss army knife! I guess the rules were always a little strange.

[John Hemenway]

I wouldn't usually reply to this because my views on this are, shall we say, not mainstream.

I think this is just another case of the government doing the wrong thing just so they can say they did something. In my more cynical moments I consider the possibilites of all the money that can be made screening the innocent, making us all afraid of and willing to do anything to stop the terrorists. We have given up some of our freedom and spent vast amounts of money since 9/11. Some companies have made huge profits providing 'security solutions'. Are we any more secure?

9/11 happened not because the terrorists had weapons, but because the flight crew let them onto the flight deck.

Now in fairness to the crews, this was a new situation and they did not expect the 'plane as missile' approach the terrorists used. I'm sure each crew thought this was an isolated event, a hijacking for money or 'fame'.

A much more effecient approach to counter-terrorism in the skies would be training for the crew to UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES let passengers onto flight deck. If they can't gain control of the plane, they can't direct it into a target.

How many passengers can a terrroist harm with a set of nail clippers, a lighter, or even the Handyman knife? (Oh my God, run he has a drill bit, we're all gonna die!!) I bet there would be passengers overtaking the bad guys before much damage is done.

Why are we so afraid of terrorists but not of driving cars? 50k US deaths per year in cars! Why don't we DEMAND safe cars?

I could go on and on about this, but I won't (for now ). It's getting way OT for this section of SMC anyway.

[Ken Garlock]

I don't object to the TSA people so long as they are acting like people and not some reject from the Gestapo. Over all, they are nice people considering the passengers that they must face day in and day out. What I do object to is waiting in the long lines.

I dropped off my suitcase at the Xray once, and the lady, in her twenties, looked at the destination tag for Dayton Ohio, and said 'one bag for Tahiti.' I told her "Tahiti, let me crawl inside", to which she said 'after me.' So not all of them are a bunch of grouches.

I like to watch "The O'Reilly Factor." Once Bill mentioned that when he travels, he FedEx's his baggage to his destination rather than go through the hassle at the airports. Nice, when you can afford it.

[Aaron Koehl]

Let's all remember not to let this thread get political..
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/terms.php

[Curt Harms]

Yeah...I just heard that you could take a lighter but you can't take matches because the shoe bomber had matches.

I, I, I just don't get it.

That's because YOU'RE not a professional! . I do a lot of short notice one way ticket purchases. Talk about a guaranteed way to get extra "attention" I told one screen that if I ever decided to be a bad guy, I'd be sure and buy a round-trip ticket

Curt