Free Republic

Freedom's Phoenix is reporting great interest in the TSA Opt-Out Bags they are handing out at Sky Harbor Airport - one of the first airports to "test" strip-search machines. The bags contain a clean pair of gloves for those inclined to a feel-up, so that the TSA agent won't give them whatever cooties are on the used gloves, but also a DVD of Rep. Dr. RON PAUL, the gentleman who introduced the Traveler Dignity Act in Congress, and the number of Marc Victor, esq., who will be happy to represent them in any false arrest or litigation stemming from the...

SNIPPET: "Three U.S Airways planes were diverted from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix to Yuma between 7 and 8 p.m. Monday, said Craig Williams, airport director. He added that he didn't know why the flights were diverted." SNIPPET: "United connects with Los Angeles while US Airways connects with Phoenix."

A woman late to her plane became irate, was put in handcuffs and was later found dead in a holding cell, police said. Authorities were investigating Saturday if the woman choked herself while trying to get free from the handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was arrested Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a conflict with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman. The airline said the plane was already preparing to depart. She was rebooked on the next flight, but "she became extremely...

PHOENIX (AP) -- Sky Harbor International Airport here will test a controversial new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies in an effort to find concealed explosives and other weapons. The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns. The Transportation Security Administration said it has found a way to refine the machine's images so that the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective in detecting bombs and other threats. The agency is expected...

Suspicious device found on America West plane in Phoenix (Phoenix-AP) -- An America West Airlines flight from Phoenix to Reagan National in Washington was aborted today after a passenger spotted a suspicious device in a seat-back. Sky Harbor airport spokeswoman Deborah Ostreicher says it turns out it was an M-P-Three player, used to play music, and it had been wrapped around a soda can. It was found in a seat-back by a passenger as Flight 44 was taxiing out to the runway for takeoff. But before it was determined what had been found, the pilot taxied to the airport's cargo...

Radio report said officals have isolated and are combing a Phoenix to Reagan Nat'l flight on the ground at Sky Harbor. Apparently, someone found (I'm not kidding) a soda can with a wire sticking out of it.