donaldduck1967 said:
If you are flying on a Domestic flight in the U.S. I thought the only thing not allowed on a carry on is liquids. You can bring laptops and camera's onto the plane.
Here's the overview from the NY TIMES this morning...
Restrictions
U.S. Transportation Security Agency Prohibits Carrying Liquids and Gels on Flights
By JEREMY W. PETERS and JAMES KANTER
Travelers still having nightmares over the delays caused by passengers who forgot to remove tweezers and matches from their carry-on luggage should prepare for the Transportation Security Administrations new target: all nonsolid forms of matter.
Effective yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security banned all liquids and gels from carry-on luggage aboard airplanes. That means everything from bottled water to coffee to common toiletries like contact-lens solution, nail polish and toothpaste now must be checked. If you forget, prepare to surrender offending items at the security checkpoint.
Even beverages bought beyond the security checkpoint are forbidden on board. If you buy a soda or a bottle of water in the terminal, finish it before boarding because you will not be allowed on the plane with it.
Kip Hawley, assistant secretary of homeland security, offered this advice, De-clutter your bag.
That is something very easy to do as you pack your bag, he said. Leave the liquids at home, drink them.
The new restrictions are part of a temporary security enhancement at the nations airports after the discovery by British intelligence officials of a plot to blow up airplanes flying from Britain to the United States.
In announcing the additional precautions, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said they were temporary, but he indicated that they would remain in place while the Transportation Security Administration refined its screening procedures so it could more thoroughly examine liquids.
A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman, Ann Davis, said yesterday that the agency was still looking at how long the heightened restrictions would be in place. We dont have any indication as to when the restrictions will be lifted, she said.
The liquid and gel ban has exceptions. Baby formula and medicine are allowed, provided that passengers present them for inspection and are prepared to prove that the name on the bottle matches the name on their ticket. That does not mean passengers will be required to taste baby formula to prove that it is not really a hazardous liquid, as was the case in Britain yesterday.
The new American precautions are far less restrictive than those in Britain. At British airports, passengers traveling to the United States must endure trans-Atlantic flights without iPods, personal DVD players and computers to distract them. Only essential items like passports and wallets held in transparent plastic bags are allowed in the cabin. Passengers are not permitted to carry anything in their pockets, and womens handbags may not be carried on.
The British also banned carry-on liquids, from apple juice to whiskey; passengers had to check their liquid prescription medicine and contact-lens solution yesterday. Womens sanitary items were allowed in the cabin, but only if they were removed from their boxes.
Tony Cane, a spokesman for British Airways, said reading material also could be affected. He said the airline had advised travelers to put books in checked luggage.
Meanwhile, passengers traveling from the United States to Britain may take items like laptop computers on board, but that if they travel through a British airport, hand luggage including laptops will not be allowed, Mr. Cane said.
In other European countries, new security procedures varied. Spanish officials said that they would monitor passengers more closely but were not adding restrictions on carry-on items.
In Italy, passengers were also being screened more carefully. A spokesman for the transportation minister said Italy was waiting to understand the situation in the U.K. before issuing any rules restricting carry-on items.
ENAC, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, said Thursday that passengers to Britain, Israel and the United States should bring as little luggage as possible, and limit carry-on luggage to documents, medicinal drugs and those personal effects required for the trip.
Airport authorities at Fiumicino airport in Rome, where flights to Heathrow were canceled, also banned all liquids from carry-on luggage on flights to Britain, Israel and the United States.
The disruptions are likely to have the strongest effects on business travelers, who have grown used to taking day flights to meetings with only carry-on luggage, and who rely on laptops, cellphones and other devices to work while flying to meetings.
The practice of business worldwide has become totally dependent on using the time while flying to work, but how many people are going to put laptops in their luggage? asked Robert Aaronson, the director general of Airports Council International, based in Geneva.
Because airport security rules are constantly changing, the latest restrictions are expected to ease over time in the United States and in Britain.
Mr. Chertoff said the restrictions would give us time to make adjustments in our current screening tactics.
These measures, the Homeland Security Department said, will be constantly evaluated and updated as circumstances warrant. Detailed advice for air travelers is available on the departments Web site,
www.dhs.gov.
The Transportation Security Administration eventually relented on tweezers and manicure scissors. Screeners were spending too much time taking them from passengers. So the administration decided those items did not pose enough of a risk to flying to warrant banning. Congress, which passed a law requiring the agency to screen for matches, repealed the measure for the same reason.
It is possible that the new restrictions on liquid will be similarly abandoned.
It is also possible that authorities will set new regulations for how liquids are carried on. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, for example, passengers were only allowed to bring on board drinks in unopened containers. The agency eventually relaxed that rule.
The prohibited items list has been modified from time to time, said Ms. Davis of the Transportation Security Administration, and the restrictions issued this morning represent the latest modification.
Jeremy W. Peters reported from New York for this article, and James Kanter from Paris. Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Milan, and Don Phillips from Washington.
Just like in photography, it's better to be an anticipative photographer (in this case proactive measures) instead of reactive photographer (in this case, overly knee-jerk reactive security measures).
