Another Airport Overreaction?

[DopeyDame]

I know I'm in the minority, but I absolutely do not think the "enhanced" pat downs are appropriate, and I've written lots and lots of emails and letters about it.
I also think this mom is way over the top and doesn't need to be publicizing this. Anyone who doesn't live under a rock knows that this type of intense and invasive screening is a possibility while flying. Accept it (while trying to change it) or don't fly.

As for the length... I've had extra screening take five minutes. I was also with a co-worker where it took nearly 30 minutes. It was ridiculous and uncomfortable. They shut down an entire lane for her, had 2 or 3 TSA agents with her the whole time, and literally searched and swabbed every item she had. I stayed with her the whole time just to make sure she made it through OK. So yeah, I do believe the mom that it was taking a really long time and felt pretty harrowing.

 

[Magpie]

My daughter got an extremely thorough pat down, from a Canadian security agent, when she was fourteen (so, seven years ago). I don't know why she was selected - when we checked in, they wrote something in red on her boarding pass. And when we got to security, she was pulled aside and informed that she'd been selected for a pat down. The woman ran her hand - palm first - all over my kid's body, around the inner waistband of her pants, and up the inside of her legs, all the way up to her crotch. She was moving so quickly, that my daughter, surprised, reacted like she'd just been goosed. She gave a surprised, "EEP!" and jumped.

What did I do? I laughed. Then my daughter laughed, too. And a moment later, it was all over and we were on our way.

Afterward, we teased her about being singled out, clearly for looking like a dangerous character. She came through it all feeling like she was somehow special, and in the end it was nothing more than a funny story to tell about our trip.

We were MUCH more upset, when on the flight home, they tried to tell our daughter that she'd been bumped from the plane. We made it very clear to the gate agent that there was no way in heck we were going to be separated from our minor child. Nor were we giving up our seats, that we'd confirmed at the earliest possible opportunity, just because they'd overbooked. The agent made it right, and we all got on the plane together. (I assume someone else got bumped instead, and was hopefully well compensated for their aggravation.)

Fortunately, my kid hasn't had any issues travelling since then.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's a known fact that children are often strapped with explosives and sent into crowded public events or places.

Do you have any sources to back up this "fact"?

So yeah, I do believe the mom that it was taking a really long time

The mom claimed it took almost an hour, the TSA says it was 45 minutes. To me, those are close enough to be the same. However, if it took you 45 minutes (heck, even an hour) to go through security and you missed your flight, how close were you calling it? I'm guessing there's another 15 minutes after security to get to your flight. So she arrived at a major airport 75 minutes before the flight? Who's fault is that?

 

[DopeyDame]

.

 

[petlvr1064]

I am 31 and have aspergers and spd. When I flew out of my tiny local airport with my mom in February I was patted down because I was wearing Victoria secret leggings that had sequins on them and they triggered the alarm. I did not like it but did it and went on. Our flight was delayed by a couple hours so my mom went back through security to the bar but I didn't because I didn't want to go through that with. Lesson learned don't wear sequins when flying.

 

[DopeyDame]

The mom claimed it took almost an hour, the TSA says it was 45 minutes. To me, those are close enough to be the same. However, if it took you 45 minutes (heck, even an hour) to go through security and you missed your flight, how close were you calling it? I'm guessing there's another 15 minutes after security to get to your flight. So she arrived at a major airport 75 minutes before the flight? Who's fault is that?

They recommend 90 minutes at most major airports. And the doors close 10 minutes before take off time. So by your timeline, even if it only took her 10 minutes to check her bags, she missed her flight. And TSA said it was 45 minutes for the screening. Not 45 minutes to get through security. It's easily believable that the security line was 15-20 minutes long before she got to the actual screening part.
So...
10 minutes to check her bags
15 minutes for security line
45 minutes for
15 minutes to get to the gate
= 85 minutes and she's already 5 minutes too late to board the plane.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

Do you have any sources to back up this "fact"?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/child-suicide-bombings_us_57bb87aae4b00d9c3a19a62f

 

[SMD]

Do you have any sources to back up this "fact"?


The mom claimed it took almost an hour, the TSA says it was 45 minutes. To me, those are close enough to be the same. However, if it took you 45 minutes (heck, even an hour) to go through security and you missed your flight, how close were you calling it? I'm guessing there's another 15 minutes after security to get to your flight. So she arrived at a major airport 75 minutes before the flight? Who's fault is that?

I read that their total time at security was 45 minutes, but it was 35 minutes of explaining the pat down procedure to the mother and waiting for police officer (not sure how long that was) to observe the pat down at her request. Then 2 minutes for actual pat down. So they may have been waiting 10 minutes prior to being stopped or maybe there was a line before the actual screening point. But her narrative is they held them for over an hour after they found the laptop, they held them extra time intentionally to make her miss her flight and they threatened them with the police. I agree that 45 minutes at security should not have caused them to miss their flight, and that they were late to begin with. I do think she probably has some valid minor complaint, but it's too hard to pick it out from everything she's saying.

 

[here757]

Do you have any sources to back up this "fact"?


The mom claimed it took almost an hour, the TSA says it was 45 minutes. To me, those are close enough to be the same. However, if it took you 45 minutes (heck, even an hour) to go through security and you missed your flight, how close were you calling it? I'm guessing there's another 15 minutes after security to get to your flight. So she arrived at a major airport 75 minutes before the flight? Who's fault is that?

Yes
Being as you can't post links..
Google child bomb. NBC CNN Fox News. ISis makes it regular practice. One of the last times was in Turkey..

 

[here757]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/child-suicide-bombings_us_57bb87aae4b00d9c3a19a62f

I lol I stand corrected cited correct

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/child-suicide-bombings_us_57bb87aae4b00d9c3a19a62f

i stand corrected! U can post links thank you

 

[Mel522]

They recommend 90 minutes at most major airports. And the doors close 10 minutes before take off time. So by your timeline, even if it only took her 10 minutes to check her bags, she missed her flight. And TSA said it was 45 minutes for the screening. Not 45 minutes to get through security. It's easily believable that the security line was 15-20 minutes long before she got to the actual screening part.
So...
10 minutes to check her bags
15 minutes for security line
45 minutes for
15 minutes to get to the gate
= 85 minutes and she's already 5 minutes too late to board the plane.

TSA recommends 2 hours for domestic and 3 for international.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

TSA recommends 2 hours for domestic and 3 for international.

That's very true. But actual airports vary on their time.

As far as TSA's recommendations....it's not completely related to the actual security time process. Here is their reasoning:


So aside from security their recommendation includes parking, shuttles, checking in for your airline, getting a boarding pass.

Not negating what your are saying just providing the context.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

I'm in the "mom WAY-overreacted" camp on this one. As has been stated by multiple pp, not only do signs at security instruct you to remove your laptop, but they TSA agents right there continually announce it. I just flew on 3/9 and 3/14. I was flagged for a pat down on 3/9 because of the "bling" on the back pocket of my jeans (barely any!) They called over a female TSA agent and she told me exactly what she was going to do. Any it was a very light touch on the back pocket. No invasive search and no all-over pat down. I also forgot to remove my 3-1-1 bag - there was no line for security and I was completely thrown off my game because of it! That didn't even register with them - no mention of it at all.

On 3/14, I had a frozen ice-pack in my carry-on. My carry-on was flagged for additional hand-search because of it. The TSA agent was very pleasant and just asked what it was for and once I explained it, I was allowed to keep it in there and be on my way. Maybe took an extra 5 min?

The price we pay to fly is to adhere to the security requirements. It's really not a super-new thing!

 

[baildrk]

Just from my own background with my career, unfortunaly people use their kids as mules to carry illegal stuff all the time. Its sad to say but do you want them to do this or let on a "weapon" which could be anything these days onto the plane and you are family get hurt. Mom over reacting probably didnt help but better safe than sorry, both of my daughters have been selected, i said ok, told my kids to do what they said and we were done in 10 seconds.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I read that their total time at security was 45 minutes, but it was 35 minutes of explaining the pat down procedure to the mother and waiting for police officer (not sure how long that was) to observe the pat down at her request. Then 2 minutes for actual pat down. So they may have been waiting 10 minutes prior to being stopped or maybe there was a line before the actual screening point. But her narrative is they held them for over an hour after they found the laptop, they held them extra time intentionally to make her miss her flight and they threatened them with the police. I agree that 45 minutes at security should not have caused them to miss their flight, and that they were late to begin with. I do think she probably has some valid minor complaint, but it's too hard to pick it out from everything she's saying.

I saw the short version of the video and only skimmed the article. If this is true then I question the mother's claim of "special needs" and tend to think it was "special needs of the moment" because she would say anything to make this into a bigger issue than it should have been.
Every special needs parent I know, (And even myself when my son, who is not special needs but was painfully shy when he was young - would not even look strangers in the face and if they tried to touch him dramatic reactions would occur) prepares their child for potentially uncomfortable situations, acts out possible situations in advance and does everything to make them as quick and as comfortable as possible. Even if it means playing it cool when they're really torn up inside as the parent watching it unfold.
In her shoes, I would never have asked for a cop, I would have let the agent pat my son down and got out of there as quickly as possible. Then would have worked on putting it all in terms he can relate to in case it happens again on the return flight, answer his questions and move on from it as though it was a nonevent.

 

[ronandannette]

Didn't seem unreasonable to me.
It's a known fact that children are often strapped with explosives and sent into crowded public events or places.
There was one person here on disboards said if she's in line for flight and TSA pulls one of her children to screen she would refuse and leave the airport..
Wonder how that worked for that person?

I don't remember that particular comment but it would be interesting if that poster returned to reassert her point of view. I can't understand what could possibly be gained by that action.

 

[DopeyDame]

I do t remember that particular comment but it would be interesting if that poster returned to reassert her point of view. I can't understand what could possibly be gained by that action.

That was me. I never went anywhere, I'm around here a lot. So far it hasn't been an issue, as my kids haven't been selected for an enhanced patdown. Fortunately, you don't need to understand decisions I make for my family or kids.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I don't like current screening methods but I also think the mother is the one that turned it into a bigger deal that it needed to be.
I've had to have additional screening multiple times and a few times it was uncomfortable but I know it's part of flying. Also, never has that additional screening taken more than a few minutes.
It seems the only reason it took so long was because the mother made a fuss.
The way she reacted was all wrong. If she has handled it differently they probably would've been on their way in a few minutes and the whole incident would have been forgotten by the time they boarded. Her making it a huge deal probably upset her son more than anything else. It was all her fault anyways for not making sure the laptop was out of the bag. There's usually a bunch of signs leading up to screening that tell you what needs to be out. There's often TSA people at the trays reminding people to take out laptops and liquids. There's often other people in line putting their laptops in trays. It's really not that hard.

 

[NHdisneylover]

That was me. I never went anywhere, I'm around here a lot. So far it hasn't been an issue, as my kids haven't been selected for an enhanced patdown. Fortunately, you don't need to understand decisions I make for my family or kids.

NO, none of us need to understand your decision- But you did bring that up on a thread in a public forum, and it was so far off the norm that many of us still recall it---so us discussing it and trying to understand it is reasonable.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Like the United Airlines story, the TSA was "following the rules". My problem with both is that the rules are stupid.

Not removing your laptop from your bag triggers a patdown? As what, a punishment? Did the child refuse to remove the laptop or just forgot to? Why does the laptop need to be removed to begin with? Wouldn't it go through the scanner? Does TSA think that including an electronic in a carryon will mask other objects? Isn't the simplest solution just to remove the laptop and rescan the bag?

For that matter, what's the point of the patdown? Will the agent find something in the patdown that would not be found on the scanner? If so, like what?

Why do some people just not question these types of decisions? Just because it's "a rule" doesn't mean it makes any freaking sense.