Anyonelse think the security system at airports is flawed?

Question

I've just got back from Mauritius yesterday and my flight was from London to Mauritius via Paris. The airports amke a big deal about saying no liquids or pens or gles or flammable substances should be taken in your hand luggage but I carried my 2 lighters in my hand luggage [i smoke nasty habit] as a test to see if they would pick them up. My hand luggage was xrayed and nothing. I also had tweezers in my make up bag but nothing. In fact whilst at Charles de Gaulle airport in the way home I was waiting for my transfer plane and left the airport to go back ouitside for a cigarette. I left with my passport, boarding card and cigaratees with the lighter inside the packet and had to go back through security to get back into the wiaitng area. I was holding the cigarette packet in my hand with the lighter inside and had to put it in a little box to go through the x ray machine... and again nothing.

My son flew back to Manchester from Gatwick yesterday morning and we were sitting in McDonalds in the north Terminal and I was looking around at the lack of security and telling my son that anyone could have placed a bomb in the dustbins around....and no I'm not a terrorist but I do get jumpy and wonder WHEN not IF there will be another attack at airports....

Sorry for the spelling errors I type quickly and never really check what I write after the event!!

Answer 1

That's funny. I did the same thing 2 weeks ago. I smoke too. Had a lighter in my purse. they have all these new rules to (make us feel safe). I was kind of testing the system too. In my carry on, I decided to shove some odd ball things because I had ran out of room in my luggage. As I was about to leave I realized I left my scissors (hair) and I thought well, my luggage is already in the car, tossed them in my carry on thinking that I'd probably have them taken from me but thought I would give it a shot and guess what they didn't even catch?! Yup. A very very sharp pair of scissors. I have concluded that they do more to make themselves look good. they aren't going to ever spend the money to protect us.
I could have smoked a cigarette while I stabbed people! *rolls her eyes*
TOTALLY AGREE!
~T~
P.S. This was in the states. I was traveling from salt Lake City To St. Louis!

Answer 2

Yes, I completely agree with you. I've witnessed first hand just how flawed security can be. I worked as a ticket agent at SFO from 1995 to 1999. Once a day, one of the ticket agents on my shift would be given a fake (but very real looking) bomb, hand grenade, etc. to try to sneak through security. Twice I was able to walk through without the item being detected. All they did to the person at TSA at the time was give her a 3 day off paid leave. Then she was back to "work" again without much discipline. I shudder to think, what if the test objects were real?

Answer 3

The fact is that airport security (in particular, in the US) is as solid as a sponge. TSA is in the habit of jumping at ghosts, when they need to focus on preventing real harm from getting onto planes.

How does banning liquids make us safer? Well, because they all have tunnel vision looking for liquids now, someone could slip in a bomb make of solid explosives, and they couldn't tell. Those X-ray machines and metal detectors DO NOT DETECT explosives. The "puffer" machines that do detect residue on people are being taken offline. Since we put our damn shoes onto the x-ray belt, none of them are being swabbed for residue with the machine that actually could detect explosives... those are just collecting dust as far as I'm concerned.

I'm for disbanding the TSA. They're a joke, and a waste of a few billion tax dollars a year. Chimps could do a better job.

Answer 4

I think there is some errors in some area's with airports but I wouldn't go quite as far as to say flawed, the errors that are there just need correcting :)

@ who didn't know what flawed means: look it up!!!

Answer 5

Random searching can be ANYONE. Not racist.

Answer 6

wut does "flawed" mean?