Family traveling home from Disney pulled aside by TSA

[T_O]

Thoughts?
http://wncn.com/2016/05/27/nc-mom-says-tsa-wouldnt-say-why-they-searched-underneath-her-clothes/

 

[larissawbb]

Creepy. Just creepy.

 

[ejgonz2]

Although no one reached into our clothes, something similar happened to us about two years ago while heading home from Disney. Apparently the milk you can buy that does need to be refrigerated has certain preservatives as well as some children's detergents have preservatives or chemicals that trigger tests for explosives.

It started with our sons bottle which had a curved shape which they said they needed to look at, they tested the milk which triggered a response and then a swab of my hands and my backpack triggered a separate response. They did tell us what was going on. And we did make our flight very barely on time, we were the last ones on the plane, but in the end everything was OK.

 

[wilkeliza]

Why do they always have to sensationalize these with the mention of the trip to Disney. Why can't it just be a family return from a trip flying out of the Orlando International Airport.

I think what PP described is probably what happened here. People just don't realize that the machine doesn't just test for explosives. It tests for chemical traces of explosive materials and ingredients in explosives. These chemicals can be in things other than explosives. I do wonder though if we should be alarmed that these chemicals do show up in formula and detergents.

 

[sndral]

If I understand the article correctly, the woman did not want to go through the body scan because she had a child she was holding. She requested that her hands be swabbed for explosives instead of going through the body scan - which apparently she's savvy enough to know she can opt for instead of the body scan machine (I didn't know that) and I wonder why she didn't opt for the metal detector w/ a toddler. TSA swabbed her hands as she requested and she tested positive for explosives.
Once she's positive for explosives she represents a threat, IMO. She presumptively has explosives on herself - so were did she hide them? They ask her to set the child down, which she does, but then, contrary to what she's been told to do, she picks the child back up. Her excuse is she was apparently unable to hand of her child to her husband because he for an unknown reason went to a different line (suspicious in and of itself as most family groups go through the line together.)
Now it is likely that the false positive was caused by a false positive (glycerin in baby wipes?) but she chose the swab rather than the body scan.
I'm no fan of TSA, but when it comes to someone testing positive for explosives I don't want them on my plane unless TSA knows for sure they do not have any.
The simple answer is choose the body scan next time.

 

[disneynutz]

If I understand the article correctly, the woman did not want to go through the body scan because she had a child she was holding. She requested that her hands be swabbed for explosives instead of going through the body scan - which apparently she's savvy enough to know she can opt for instead of the body scan machine (I didn't know that) and I wonder why she didn't opt for the metal detector w/ a toddler. TSA swabbed her hands as she requested and she tested positive for explosives.
Once she's positive for explosives she represents a threat, IMO. She presumptively has explosives on herself - so were did she hide them? They ask her to set the child down, which she does, but then, contrary to what she's been told to do, she picks the child back up. Her excuse is she was apparently unable to hand of her child to her husband because he for an unknown reason went to a different line (suspicious in and of itself as most family groups go through the line together.)
Now it is likely that the false positive was caused by a false positive (glycerin in baby wipes?) but she chose the swab rather than the body scan.
I'm no fan of TSA, but when it comes to someone testing positive for explosives I don't want them on my plane unless TSA knows for sure they do not have any.
The simple answer is choose the body scan next time.

I tested positive once at MCO, after a couple of questions the agent told me that they get a lot of false positives and let me pass, no pat down required.

Bill

 

[Firepath]

When only one of my family members gets pre check we just all go through the regular lines. It kinda stinks that we don't get to use it but it's not worth getting separated over. We have run into some really cranky TSA agents at MCO though. I don't think it would go well if I told them I couldn't go in the line they directed me to.

 

[soniam]

He was probably in a different line, because they made him go through the body scanner. Typically, I go through just the metal detector with DS, since he's still young enough to not have to go through the scanner. Some airports let us all just go through the metal detector, and some will only allow one parent to skip the scanner. So, the different line may have just been the people going through the scanner. We get separated like that often. Hopefully, not much anymore though, because we just got enrolled in TSA Precheck I am very leery of some of the scanners, being an electrical engineer, I don't really trust that they know what they are doing or keep them properly maintained or calibrated. I also don't trust that it finds much that's worth the risk of doing the machines. Especially when they consider my tiny, Jedi-like braid something that needs a pat down I guess I could be hiding a sewing needle.

Anyway, I can't stand how they refuse to answer questions. They should explain why you are getting more screening and exactly what they are doing and what you should o. They just seem to like to yell at people I do feel bad for the screeners. I think their work environment is very much like the IRS was when my mother worked there. They make everyone miserable, so that the only thing they know to do is to be jerks to the public. I feel bad for this woman. I have been screened underneath my clothes with hands, but it was explained to me what would happen and why. It was a few weeks after 9/11, and we were returning to the US from Europe. The poor female screener was pretty upset about having to do it.

 

[Asellus]

He was probably in a different line, because they made him go through the body scanner. Typically, I go through just the metal detector with DS, since he's still young enough to not have to go through the scanner. Some airports let us all just go through the metal detector, and some will only allow one parent to skip the scanner. So, the different line may have just been the people going through the scanner. We get separated like that often. Hopefully, not much anymore though, because we just got enrolled in TSA Precheck I am very leery of some of the scanners, being an electrical engineer, I don't really trust that they know what they are doing or keep them properly maintained or calibrated. I also don't trust that it finds much that's worth the risk of doing the machines. Especially when they consider my tiny, Jedi-like braid something that needs a pat down I guess I could be hiding a sewing needle.

Anyway, I can't stand how they refuse to answer questions. They should explain why you are getting more screening and exactly what they are doing and what you should o. They just seem to like to yell at people I do feel bad for the screeners. I think their work environment is very much like the IRS was when my mother worked there. They make everyone miserable, so that the only thing they know to do is to be jerks to the public. I feel bad for this woman. I have been screened underneath my clothes with hands, but it was explained to me what would happen and why. It was a few weeks after 9/11, and we were returning to the US from Europe. The poor female screener was pretty upset about having to do it.

I also flew (to wdw) a few months after 9/11 and honestly encountered almost no increased security. T.F. Greene was one of the last airports to implement security procedures and under protests at that. Even my backpack (I was in high school) got only a cursory check.

I feel horrible for this Mom. I've been there with my son. He is 2, developmentally delayed and does not do well being put down when he wants to be picked up.

I see no flights in my future until we feel the kids are old enough to go to Europe. It's easy enough to drive to Disney from RI. Cheaper too with 5 of us.

 

[tarak]

Mom probably tested positive for glycerin. Many brands of baby wipes have glycerin in them. I have a child with a pacemaker. She can't go through metal detectors and she's too short for the full body scan, so she always has to get patted down. The stroller was too big to go through the xray machine, so they swabbed it. Tested positive, so they went through my luggage and patted me down. I was told they test for four different substances. If they find A, they test for B-D. My experience was fine - they explained what was going on and they were very nice about it. But when someone has a bad experience with TSA and says something asinine like "I guess we won't go back to Disney," I roll my eyes and dismiss her as being overly dramatic.

 

[Aurora0427]

The whole situation sucks. It sucks to be patted down, it sucks that this is the world in which we live, airline travel these days is just unpleasant.

 

[BookGirl305]

q

 

[fairy oma]

TSA screeners are just doing their jobs. We all must admit that flying today is no longer fun and at times extremely frustrating. If airlines could get away with it I believe they would put in bleacher seats and ropes for seat belts. I have been pulled aside 3 different times: 1) I was wearing a long maxi sundress and was frisked (needless to day I now only travel in pants or leggings); 2) Just because the system decided to and I was taken to curtained area and frisked, and the agent misplaced my drivers' license and denied having it, my husband needed to be at a board meeting in Chicago and I told him to go on and I would meet him in O'Hare after his meeting. The agent's supervisor found my id and she held the plane until I could board. Both of the first 2 instances were in the MCI United terminal security line. 3). We are now TSA pre-check and the screener scanned my carryon and thought my liquids bottles looked too big...they weren't. Just remember that the new hardside carryon bags do not have an outside pocket so put your liquids bag right on top so they do not have to riffle through your clothing.

DH and I have decided that once he retires we are driving where we need to go as flying is just a pain nowadays.

 

[bpesch]

I suspect, as with most stories like this, there is more to it.

 

[wishtdream]

Things like this contribute to my family's choice to drive to Florida from NJ every single time.

 

[BooJJMommy]

I got tagged for explosives as we were leaving MCO last time. Turns out the propellant in sunscreen in the aerosal form is a trigger and even though the canister wasnt in my bag at the time, it had been during our trip and sure enough I got pulled aside. The person I had was very professional and I followed all the directions and was pleasant in return. I look at it as I would want them to do this for anyone who might be a threat so I shouldnt make the TSA work harder just because it's a bother to me. On another trip I was trying to bring back sand from Siesta Key Beach... turns out that is a security flag too.... oops!

 

[ChipnDale79]

The lady was in an airport that has direct international flights. She tested positive for explosives. She played the child card. She did not follow their directions to not touch her son (as they then would have had to do the procedure on him. She tried to add an additional person (husband) into the fray. Those things are viewed one way from her perspective, but from a security perspective, she could appear to be circumventing the system by carrying a child and then causing a diversion as she hands off him and his things to a party who made it thru security (bait and switch).

I think part of the problem is they didnt tell her why she was being searched. It sounds like they didnt tell her she tested positive for explosives until afterwards.

The child card.....wow..... I also wonder how many people out there are not going to pick up their kid when they are in a situation like this and the kid wants to be picked up. The child was probably scared to death, as a parent, it would be very hard not to pick them up.

The TSA does a great job, but maybe they could have been better at explaining what was going on here at the time.

Also, I see she is local to my area, if she wants to go Disney she doesn't need to fly.

 

[AquaDame]

If I understand the article correctly, the woman did not want to go through the body scan because she had a child she was holding. She requested that her hands be swabbed for explosives instead of going through the body scan - which apparently she's savvy enough to know she can opt for instead of the body scan machine (I didn't know that) and I wonder why she didn't opt for the metal detector w/ a toddler. TSA swabbed her hands as she requested and she tested positive for explosives.
Once she's positive for explosives she represents a threat, IMO. She presumptively has explosives on herself - so were did she hide them? They ask her to set the child down, which she does, but then, contrary to what she's been told to do, she picks the child back up. Her excuse is she was apparently unable to hand of her child to her husband because he for an unknown reason went to a different line (suspicious in and of itself as most family groups go through the line together.)
Now it is likely that the false positive was caused by a false positive (glycerin in baby wipes?) but she chose the swab rather than the body scan.
I'm no fan of TSA, but when it comes to someone testing positive for explosives I don't want them on my plane unless TSA knows for sure they do not have any.
The simple answer is choose the body scan next time.

It doesn't come down to want if you have a child - they ask you go through the X-ray instead with them and then check your hands. It's one of several reasons I choose not to go through the full body scanner and always opt out. Not doing it means a pat down and they check their gloves after rubbing me all over. I don't recommend it if you are at all shy with your body. This is all standard practice and clearly they are somehow making a big deal out of it in her case for... well I don't know why. They always offer to let me do it in private but I actual prefer being out where people such as my husband can see me just in case.

Its unfortunate they weren't quick to realize she set off an alarm but once she did then it was serious business. They won't tell you whats going on at that point since you are a 'threat' until they clear you. I set it off once because I had been running around a farm (at least thats why we think) and they didn't tell me until they checked my shoes again. She shouldn't hand things to her husband as thats subverting their alert - the moment she picked up the child she "contaminated" him so he had to be searched. Then they told her not to do that a second time because yeah, they'd have to check again. She could be putting something in his clothes or who knows what. Honestly I'm shocked her family could even be with her up until she went into the room after that. My husband can NOT join me when I'm being searched in the open, he stands just past security waiting. They didn't decide to go into her pants - THEY GO IN YOUR PANTS. Again, thats standard practice. When you haven't set off an alarm they are nice about it and tell you exactly where they are going to search, and they use the backs of their hands in sensitive areas but yeah, front and back of your waist, around your underwire, etc. If she is not OK with that then yes, she should not fly. Its awful and one of the reasons I too now have precheck - I don't like making the TSA agent do it (surprise! They don't like it either!) and sometimes you wait a long time for them to have a chance to deal with you. Some even argue with me to try and get me through the machine instead so they don't have to.

 

[Tom P.]

The TSA does a great job...

No, they really don't. They don't even do a mediocre job. They are horrible. And contribute absolutely nothing to actually making those planes any safer.

I won't go any farther because I fear I would run afoul of the "no politics" rule. But I have no respect for the TSA what-so-ever.

 

[Delgado]

If I understand the article correctly, the woman did not want to go through the body scan because she had a child she was holding. She requested that her hands be swabbed for explosives instead of going through the body scan - which apparently she's savvy enough to know she can opt for instead of the body scan machine (I didn't know that) and I wonder why she didn't opt for the metal detector w/ a toddler. TSA swabbed her hands as she requested and she tested positive for explosives.
Once she's positive for explosives she represents a threat, IMO. She presumptively has explosives on herself - so were did she hide them? They ask her to set the child down, which she does, but then, contrary to what she's been told to do, she picks the child back up. Her excuse is she was apparently unable to hand of her child to her husband because he for an unknown reason went to a different line (suspicious in and of itself as most family groups go through the line together.)
Now it is likely that the false positive was caused by a false positive (glycerin in baby wipes?) but she chose the swab rather than the body scan.
I'm no fan of TSA, but when it comes to someone testing positive for explosives I don't want them on my plane unless TSA knows for sure they do not have any.
The simple answer is choose the body scan next time.

Actually when you have a young child in mco airport you have to do the metal detector and they would like the child to go through separately. Families are split up because they have to step out of line for the body scanner to do this. The rest of the family still has to go through the body scanner.

I had an experience with ready made baby formula that didn't make sense til now. And no they didn't tell me what was going on, but they kindly took the switchbladeS away from the waitress next to me that needs them for work. Just saying.

Just follow instructions. I get feeling violated and having youre kid scream but that small moment of humiliation for your family's safety is minut. Should they tell you yes but honestly the less they say the safer the airports are.