White noise & plastic bags

Transportation security agencies are talking, but is anyone listening?

In the thick of the holiday season when thousands are packed into Terminal One of Pearson International Airport, the buzz of their collective chatter is overpowered by a voice over the intercom, reminding travellers what they cannot pack in their carry-on luggage.

But the message seems to have become white noise to many passengers.

Each week, more than 600,000 containers of liquids or gels - one for each passenger passing through the airport - are confiscated, said Yves Ducharme, director of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. — Canada’s Globe & Mail

One confiscated item per passenger? Wow - I thought my kids had hard heads. 

And - concerning the US 3-1-1 rule - here’s evidence of spotty enforcement and the trouble sometimes associated with unlabeled containers. 

London calling: not so fast

News of the imminent, widespread return of the personal item to carry-on travelers in the UK has been greatly exxagerated:

A plan to ease the one-piece cabin baggage restriction for airline passengers in January could lead to mass confusion, airport officials say.

The Department for Transport has said more than one piece will be allowed after 7 January, provided airports have purchased improved security scanners.

Yet airport operators say it is also up to airlines to decide if they want more cabin baggage on board flights. - BBC

Did you catch the poison pill? UK airports must have the new 3D-imaging x-ray scanners in place to allow the personal item. I’ll bet that means the change will come slowly to Heathrow and who-knows-when everywhere else. In the meantime assume that one bag really means ONE bag. 

Dress for travel succes with beltless Joe

Joe Brancatelli is a gem. His advice is always witty and wise. Joe on dressing for checkpoint success:

“I’ve found that the fastest way through security is to go plastic. I switched the brass buttons on my blue blazer for plastic ones. I bought a plastic Swatch watch specifically for road trips. I’ve even gotten rid of my belt. Needless to say, I wear only slip-on shoes, and I check my socks for holes before I leave home. 

“I won’t argue that this all sounds a bit unstylish. If you want to don jewelry, sport your favorite chunky metal watch, and wear your lucky running shoes, and if you really need a belt, do what I do: Stow these possessions in your carry-on bag, then put them on once you clear security. And here’s an incredibly useful tip: Stash potentially problematic items in zip-top plastic bags. Before you reach the checkpoint, dump everything-keys, jewelry, pens, handheld computers, cell phones, loose change-into a bag and place it in an exterior pocket of your carry-on. When you escape the clutches of the T.S.A., fish out the zip-top bag and return everything to your person.” - washingtonpost.com

More tips from Joe on minimizing your sartorial load:

• Limit your color palette so your clothes match easily - maximizing their utility
• Accessorize - create the illusion of more outfits with different ties, scarves, etc.
• Buy clothing on the road
• Use hotel laundry services - “Lugging around dirty laundry is, needless to say, counterproductive.”  (I might add that the non-business traveler can easily wash their own clothes in-room, provided you’ve chosen the right clothing)  

TSA's holiday checklist - check the pies & beer!

Memo to Santa: In case a  French reindeer strike causes you to have fly commerical, here’s what you can and can’t carry on.

 
Some samplings from tsa.gov (no kidding):

“Not sure about what you can and can’t bring through the checkpoint*? Here’s a list of liquid, aerosol and gel items that you should put in your checked bag, ship ahead, or leave at home:

• Gravy

• Salad dressing

• Oils & vinegars

• Cranberry sauce

• Salsa

• Sauces

• Creamy dips

• Wine, liquor & beer

• Other beverages

• Jams & Jellies
  

• Soups

• Cakes & Pies”
  

AND REMEMBER, NO WRAPPED GIFTS!!!!

 

TSA says be neat or be delayed!

Messy packers, you and the TSA have issues:

WASHINGTON — Airline passengers, who already are required at airport checkpoints to remove their shoes, take off their coats and carry only small bottles of liquids, now have a new task: Pack neatly.
In anticipation of the most popular holiday for travel in the USA, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today launches a campaign urging travelers to eliminate clutter in carry-on bags. Pack in layers. Keep items neat.
Messy travelers could spend more time in line if their carry-ons are cluttered because such bags are more likely to be pulled aside and searched by hand, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe says. - USA Today

From the TSA site:
—
Here’s how to SimpliFLY your overall security experience:

• Pack an organized carry-on bag using layers – a layer of clothes, then electronics, more clothes, and then other items like toiletries. This will help security officers see what’s in your bag.
• Have your boarding pass and ID ready for inspection when you get to the checkpoint.
• Remove your coat and shoes and place them in a bin.
• Place any oversized electronics (laptops, full-size video game consoles, DVD players and video cameras that use cassettes) in a separate bin. iPods and other smaller electronics can stay in your carry-on bag.
• Follow the 3-1-1 rule for liquids and put your one quart baggie separately in the bin.
• When in doubt, leave it out. If you’re not sure about whether you can bring an item through the checkpoint, put it in your checked bag or leave it at home. Click here to see the list of prohibited items.
  —
  

I’m guessing packing cubes are OK, but probably the more translucent the better. Some of us will take a little umbrage at being told to “neaten up,” I’ll bet. Here are some TSA example photos (left good, right bad, if the shoe fits wear it!):

 

Kip says "1000's of ways to attack"

TSA administrator Kip Hawley and his agency have had a tough week. Statements like this one don’t help:

“There are thousands of ways to attack, but if you put all of the resources at the checkpoint to make that bullet proof, [terrorists will] say thank you very much and go someplace else to get in, so you have to secure the entire environment at a basic level and then upgrade in an unexpected, unpredictable way,” Hawley said. “If they say the checkpoint is all buttoned down, then the attack comes through the perimeter, the attack comes in front of the airport, there is a [shoulder-fired rocket] attack.” - Congressional Quarterly

He seems to be saying, “Don’t worry too much about our sloppy and inefficient checkpoint screening  because something a lot  worse could happen.” Wow. I do agree that the TSA is good at being “unpredicatable” and I’d love to be able to “say thank you very much and go someplace else” at most airports.

You a TSA employee, or just happy to see me?

US Government Accountability Office investigators who conistently fooled the TSA are recommding more pat-downs and physical seraches of air traveleers:

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators testifying before Congress on Thursday said that more physical searches of passengers would be needed to reduce the chances that a terrorist can sneak a bomb onto an airplane. But air safety officials resisted the suggestion, saying American passengers dislike intrusive pat-downs.

The investigators smuggled the components of potentially devastating liquid bombs past checkpoints at 19 airports nationwide earlier this year, they testified. In the covert tests, they carried the elements of an improvised explosive device and a firebomb in carry-on luggage or on their bodies. - LA Times

Some in Congress are not pleased with the TSA’s performance:

“The problem is that the news is the same — it’s not getting better — and that’s unacceptable,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the Government Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which held the hearing.

Waxman called the TSA’s record on screening “embarrassing and dangerous” and warned (TSA head Kip) Hawley that the committee would ask the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, to conduct a similar test next year. He went on to chastise Hawley for seeming to “pooh-pooh” the results of the GAO investigations.

“You’re on notice,” Waxman said. “I want you to take this one seriously. I didn’t feel you took the first one seriously.”  - Read the entire LA Times story here.

USA Today’s account of the hearing provides no comfort:

Hawley downplayed (the report) that showed investigators were able to smuggle liquid explosives and detonators past security. He said some bomb components investigators brought on airplanes this year are too weak to blow up a plane.

“Frankly, some of the stuff we saw here is not a concern. Some of it is a concern,” Hawley said after GAO officials played a videotape of the bomb parts they used in the probe being detonated in cars.

John Cooney, the GAO’s assistant director for forensic audits and special investigations, said the bomb parts “placed in an appropriate place on an aircraft could possibly do catastrophic damage.”

Lawmakers from both parties criticized the TSA and revealed that during another series of covert tests in 2006, GAO investigators slipped bomb parts past screeners in each of their 21 attempts.

“That’s an embarrassing and dangerous record,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held Thursday’s hearing.

“This is unfortunately a record of failure,” said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.

The maddening thing is that the TSA’s incompetence is going to lead to more hassle - pat-downs and who-knows-what-else. Wouldn’t it be better to start over and design an effective system of security screening rather than just add to the existing regimen - which is undoubtedly what they’ll do?  I appreciate the diffuculty of the task and I’m glad we’ve had no more serious incidents, but government tends to perpetuate and add to its way of doing things rather than (pardon the pun) blowing them up and starting over.

More one-bag rule news from the UK

It sounds like the UK will ease its one-bag/no personal item rule in early 2008, but there is some waffle room for the authorities and some bureaucratic hoops involved: 

”From 7 January airports will be able to seek permission to let more than one item of hand luggage be taken on board flights by passengers.

Size restrictions on liquids and cabin luggage will remain and Ms Kelly said it was “not about relaxing” security.

In order to be able to relax the “one bag rule”, airports will have to apply to the Department for Transport and prove they have the necessary screening measures to handle extra cabin luggage.” - BBC

UK one-bag rule on the way out!

UK PM Gordon Brown has good news for the carry-on traveler:

Releasing a government report to the House of Commons, Mr. Brown also said British airports would begin relaxing their rules on hand luggage so that in some airports passengers would be able to take two carry-on bags beginning in 2008. Since a foiled plan to blow up trans-Atlantic planes in the summer of 2006, passengers at British airports have been restricted to one carry-on bag. - The New York Times

Shoeless Joe's checkpoint mood piece

The NYT’s Joe Sharkey has written a TSA security checkpint lament that is not to be missed. Aside from his complaints about the ugly aesthetics and de-humanizing regimen, Sharkey makes the excellent point that the disorder and stress created by the whole screwed up system is creating more risk - not less.

Given bare or stockinged feet, the lack of floor mats is also a chronic problem, Mr. Weinstein said. Matt Blaze, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert in security cryptology, agreed.

“Somehow we ended up with this cobbled-together mess,” he said. “At the very point in the process at which you have to take your shoes off, that’s where the carpeting ends.”

From a customer service standpoint, it’s “infuriating,” he said. But disorder also raises genuine security concerns.

“There’s no better place to get away with something than a chaotic environment,” he said.

TSA: Head-to-toe screening, Millimeter Wave

“Terrorist have used baggy clothing to hide weapons and explosives in the past, including in 2004 when Chechen rebels posed as pregnant women and smuggled explosives aboard two Russian jetliners, killing 90 people.

While passengers can wear any type of clothing they desire, baggy, loose fitting, bulky clothing and head coverings that are non form-fitting present a particular challenge for officers in their mission to ensure IEDs are not smuggled on board. Passengers could be subjected to additional screening to further evaluate any item that could hide explosives or their components.” - from the TSA website.

 The TSA has also announced that the “bulky clothing” category includes headwear:

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today adjusted its security procedures for headwear and is now including the screening procedures for headwear within the overall category of bulky clothing and not calling it out as a separate category.

Removal of all headwear is recommended but the rules accommodate those with religious, medical, or other reasons for whom removing items is not comfortable. Transportation security officers have several options for screening passengers who choose not to remove bulky clothing, including headwear.

These options include:

• Trace portals (where available)
• Trace detection
• Pat downs

 And are you ready for MILLIMETER WAVE Whole Body Imaging - a new technology on trial in Phoenix? It’s billed as an alternative to the all-too-friendly pat-down for secondary security  screening. It looks like a phone booth, but it can see right through you…

Soggy socks on cold concrete - The No-Shoes Blues

The shoeless security shuffle continues, even if you are a member of the Clear registered traveler program:

You will still have to take your shoes off at the airport checkpoint. The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday that it had rejected the use of a General Electric shoe-scanning machine that was supposed to provide a central benefit for members of the Clear version of the Registered Traveler program: the ability to pass through security with their shoes on. The machine would instead have scanned the shoes electronically for weapons or explosives. - from the International Herald-Tribune

Slip-ons and flip-flops are here to stay. 

Here’s the TSA’s bulletin on the shoe scanner non-starter. 

 

TSA moving away from "ban everything" approach?

From CQ.com’s story about the remote-control toy ban: 

TSA is attempting to move away from simply running down a checklist of permissible and banned items, and more toward a security posture that gives transportation security officers more discretion to make judgement calls at security checkpoints, she added. Taking this approach allows TSA’s security personnel more flexibility when scanning for ever-evolving terrorist threats.

“If we just take the approach of banning everything that we think could be a problem, then we would be left with people without carry-ons,” Howe said. “So the idea is to share the information with the workforce and the public and just let people know that it is something that we are concerned about.”

TSA not toying about this time

The TSA has banned radio-controlled toys from carry-on luggage - with good reason it seems:

‘In the South Carolina case, the authorities found a 12-minute Arabic-language videotape on the computer of Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, a student at University of South Florida, that had been uploaded to YouTube. In it, a narrator explains how to convert a toy car into a detonator, an affidavit filed in federal court Thursday says.’ - read the whole story from iht.com

Do you need a " Freedom Bag" for your liquids?

Aggressive, abusive behavior— even for the purposes of political protest — isn’t really my style, but it’s worth noting that there are people so hacked off by the Transportation Security Administration that they would put up a site like kiphawleyisanidiot.com (Hawley is the head of the TSA ) where you can learn how to make the “Freedom Bag”, a clear plastic protest against the 3-1-1 security regimen. Incidentally, a New York Times writer was pilloried when he wrote a piece that was construed as supportive of the TSA.

Feeling bloated?

Whether real or simply perceived, the vulnerability of checked baggage to loss, delay and pilferage has increased the incidence of carry-on bloat, with business travellers and casual tourists trying to bring as much aboard as possible.

This story from a Canadian newspaper sizes up the luggage situation and warns of tougher enforcement of carryon regulations. 

New anti-theft device: the shoulder

The pervasiveness and inevitability of luggage theft and pilferage at airports is the subject of a well-done New York Times story. That’s mostly checked luggage mind you. Security rules from recent years requiring that luggage be left unlocked (or TSA-locked) have only added to the problem. Surely this is one more reason not to check a bag. It’s a little harder to steal luggage off someone’s back or shoulder than it is in some cavernous baggage-handling pit. It is noted in the story however that travelers should be careful at security checkpoints where hand inspections occur while travelers may be distracted by things like walk-through metal detectors. Read “No Suitcase is Safe”

Year of the liquid ban

Although restrictions on liquids have become a fact of life for airlines and travelers, it’s difficult to know if these measures are deterring attacks.

“The trouble with terrorism is it’s not like safety,” said Kenneth Button, a professor at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy. “Safety is a technical problem.”

If some part of an airplane is malfunctioning, it can be repaired, Button said, but averting terrorism is not that simple. “Every time you stop one attempt, they change tactics,” he said.

Security measures such as the TSA’s ban on liquids are partly cosmetic, according to Button. They keep travelers aware of dangers and encourage them to be vigilant, but they also serve to make people generally more confident about flying. - from a Reuters story looking bag on the year-old liquid ban

TSA tweaks carryon inspections

The TSA has quietly changed its carryon inspection rules to require DVD players and large video games to be removed from luggage for separate inspection.  No news of these changes appears on the TSA web site, but USA Today has reported on the change:

Small electronic items, such as cellphones, MP3 players, iPods and portable video game systems do not have to be removed from passenger’s carrying cases.

“Everything seems to be running smoothly,” United Airlines spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said Sunday of the change, which went into effect Saturday. Elaine Sanchez, spokeswoman at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, also reported no problems even though, she said, Sundays are among the busiest days of the week.

TSA boss pulls back the curtain

Wow - here’s an excerpt from a very interesting interview with TSA administrator Kip Hawley from schneier.com:

The stories about 90% failures are wrong or extremely misleading. We do many kinds of effectiveness tests at checkpoints daily. We use them to guide training and decisions on technology and operating procedures. We also do extensive and very sophisticated Red Team testing, and one of their jobs is to observe checkpoints and go back and figure out — based on inside knowledge of what we do — ways to beat the system. They isolate one particular thing: for example, a particular explosive, made and placed in a way that exploits a particular weakness in technology; our procedures; or the way TSOs (transportation safety officers) do things in practice. Then they will test that particular thing over and over until they identify what corrective action is needed. We then change technology or procedure, or plain old focus on execution. And we repeat the process — forever.

This is supposed to be a multi-parter; we’ll try to keep an eye on it and keep excerpting it day by day. Here’s the Schneier blog front page which will have the latest - part two is already up.

And here’s a guest blog Hawley wrote in late spring for the Aviation Week.