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A pilot's laptop, filled with top secret security information was reported missing at Dulles Airport and the ripple effects were felt across the country. The Mesa Airlines employee couldn't find the personal laptop he brought with him while co-piloting a United Express flight from Birmingham, Alabama to Dulles International Airport. 17 airports were forced to make emergency changes to access codes at Dulles, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago's O'Hare and San Antonio. Various officials within the airline industry admit that with these access codes, someone who went though security could, with the touch of a few buttons, get onto a plane or...

How many federal employees does it take to waste our tax dollars and push an agenda? The Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, is familiar to anyone who flies. They’re the people that make you take off your shoes, your belt, conduct body cavity searches and make grandma get out of the wheel chair because she might be a terrorist. Aside from being worthless and unionized (so they can’t be fired easily, thanks Dems), they are also pushing a PC agenda, at least in Atlanta. One of our contributors flew to Atlanta today and sent back the pictures below of an...

A 74-year-old grandmother spent the night in jail after she refused security officers' efforts to check her at Palm Beach International Airport and then shoved a deputy, authorities said Thursday. Elena Reichman, a Holocaust survivor who lives west of Boca Raton, is charged with felony battery on a law enforcement officer. She was released from jail after posting a $3,000 bond at 5 a.m. Thursday. It was her first arrest, state records show.

A globe-hopping executive was grounded by JetBlue after she threw a hissy fit at Kennedy Airport and triggered a bomb scare aboard a flight, the Daily News has learned. Rosalinda Baez was arrested by the FBI for falsely claiming there was a bomb in her suitcase at JFK, according to a complaint filed last week in Brooklyn Federal Court. Baez, who earns $190,000-a-year and has homes in Manhattan and Texas, was returning from a business trip in Costa Rica last Tuesday when she was blocked by a gate attendant from boarding JetBlue Flight 1061 to Austin, Tex., because the jetway...

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Their mission is to protect airline passengers from acts of terror on U.S. flights. But in a special investigation, former and current air marshals told CNN that the number of marshals assigned to police flights is so low that the federal agency overseeing them has drastically lowered its firearms and psychological testing standards just so it can qualify new hires. More than a dozen current and former marshals told CNN that so many federal air marshals have resigned and are not being replaced that airport screeners are being employed to fill the dwindling ranks. But...

CHICAGO - Uniforms belonging to U.S. Transportation Security Administration officers were left in the open at an O'Hare International Airport checkpoint last month, as was a cash box, officials said Monday. TSA spokesman Elio Montenegro said the items were in an area past security checkpoints, insisting that someone wearing a TSA uniform still could not get into a secure area without the proper identification. "First and foremost, at no time was security or safety breached," Montenegro said Monday. "At all times, the items in question were in the secure area of the airport ... and at no time were they...

NEW YORK - To the untrained eye, the man looked like any other traveler as he waited in line at Kennedy Airport. But something about the way he was acting caught the attention of two security screeners. For 16 minutes, they questioned him, scanned every inch of his body twice with a metal-detecting wand and emptied his carry-on bag onto a table. Out came a car stereo with wires dangling from it. The man was eventually found to have done nothing wrong — he said he had pulled the stereo out of his car because he was afraid it would...

Over ten per cent of airline crewmembers in the US are authorised to carry guns onboard, according to a budget document released by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The Federal Air Marshal Service runs a programme for armed pilots as a TSA agency and estimates that 85,000 to 90,000 pilots and crew are eligible to carry a gun on domestic passenger and cargo flights. Although the exact number remains confidential the TSA has forecasted the level of eligible pilots will increase to 16.5 per cent by 2011. The TSA reports it found 16 firearms and four concealed prohibited items at...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A former Army veteran arrested after trying to check luggage containing pipe bomb-making materials onto a flight home explained that he wanted to show his friends there how to make them, authorities said Wednesday. Investigators were questioning whether Kevin Christopher Brown had ever been to Iraq—where he told them he'd seen similar bombs made, according to court documents—and looking into his mental health history after his arrest Tuesday at Orlando International Airport. Authorities and airline officials repeated their assurances that passengers were never in danger. Transportation Security Administration officials nonetheless touted the 32-year-old's arrest as a...

WASHINGTON - Armed airline pilots may be at risk of discharging their weapons on planes because of cumbersome rules imposed by Congress and the Transportation Security Administration, a group representing the pilots said Tuesday. A 2002 law prohibits pilots from carrying their guns outside the cockpit without a trigger lock, and as a result they must frequently affix or remove trigger locks during flights. That law and the TSA policy that goes with it may be responsible for a March 22 incident in which a pilot accidentally discharged his weapon on U.S. Airways Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte, N.C.,...

Components that potentially could be made into a pipe bomb were found in the luggage of a man preparing to fly from Orlando International Airport to Jamaica on Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. The Transportation Security Administration confirmed only that "suspicious" items were found in a search of the man's luggage. FBI spokesman David Couvertier, whose agency is handling the case, said the items "generated a high level of concern," but he declined to confirm the newspaper's report that the suspicious items included "unassembled pipes with end caps, metal ball bearings and other potentially explosive materials." The man, whose...

An attorney claims security agents gave a woman a pair of pliers and forced her to remove her nipple rings in order to board an airline flight. Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred issued a press statement Thursday making the allegation but she didn't provide details. A news conference was scheduled. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Dwayne Baird said he had not heard of the incident. Baird said the TSA has no specific policy about body jewelry but if it was big enough to sound an alarm, . . .

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Transportation Security Administration said it will change they way its officers search passengers with body piercings after a Texas woman complained she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane. Mandi Hamlin, 37, had demanded an apology and her Los Angeles-based attorney sent a letter to the TSA this week requesting a civil rights investigation. Hamlin said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a TSA agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems....

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 27 --The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today is calling for an independent investigation of an in-flight discharge of a pistol carried by an armed U.S. Airways pilot to prevent any whitewashing, cover-up or scapegoating in the incident. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said the incident is alarming because of allegations that the pilot may have been following strict Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rules when the mishap occurred. Those rules came under fire today from the Airline Pilots Security Alliance (APSA), which represents thousands of commercial airline pilots. "We have a keen interest...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation. "I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone," Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way." Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after...

A US Airways pilot accidentally discharged his gun in the cockpit during a flight from Denver to Charlotte, N.C., according to the Transportation Safety Administration. The Airbus A319 landed safely after the incident Saturday and without any injuries to the 124 passengers on board, a spokesperson for the TSA told ABCNEWS.com today. The TSA said the passengers were unaware that a gun had been fired in the cockpit. The pilot, who both the TSA and US Airways declined to identify, was a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, an initiative put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- A US Airways pilot’s gun accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to as statement released by the airline. The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. An airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight. A Transportation Safety...

The suspiciously thin, port-free laptop sends airport security into a tizzy, until cooler heads prevail. Maybe it's time for some tech briefings at the TSA, no? On his blog, programmer Michael Nygard (by way of the Unofficial Apple Weblog) writes that during a recent trip through the airport, his solid-state MacBook Air stopped TSA agents—puzzled by its lack of rear-facing ports or a standard hard drive—in their tracks. Nygard said the agents put him and his suspicious "device" in a holding cubicle as security staffers huddled nearby, looking at X-ray printouts of the sinister-looking Air and scratching their heads. A...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Amtrak passengers will be subjected to random screening of their carry-on bags as part of a new security initiative that will include armed officers and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains, an Amtrak spokeswoman said Monday. Details of the new effort, which were first reported by The Associated Press, will be announced Tuesday, the spokeswoman, Tracey Connell, said.

OAKLAND -- Oakland International Airport officials apologized for prohibiting a planeload of U.S. troops, just back from Iraq, from entering the passenger terminal during a layover Thursday, prompting conservative pundits and bloggers to hold up the incident as an example of the "Left Coast" dishonoring soldiers. "We apologize, I apologize to any members of the military that were on this flight and may have experienced some discomfort or perception of disrespect," said Omar Benjamin, executive director of the Port of Oakland, which operates the airport. "There was no disrespect intended" when North American Airlines Flight 1777 was directed to wait...

Here ya go. Unload on 'em. :-)

For the four months that [a TSA Web site supposed to help travelers whose names were erroneously listed on airline watch lists] was up, thousands of people visited it, and 247 travelers submitted highly personal information (including their Social Security number and place of birth) through an insecure, non-SSL encrypted form. TSA's lax security practices resulted in thousands of Americans being put at a direct risk of identity theft. The site was only taken down after I discovered it in February 2007 and posted something to my blog. Shortly after, Wired and a number of other sites picked up the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Frustrated by long airport-security lines? Certain those screeners aren't paying attention? Wondering why your grandma always gets frisked? The federal government wants to hear - or at least read - your gripes at the "Evolution of Security" blog the Transportation Security Administration introduced Wednesday. And it promises those complaints and suggestions won't vanish into thin air. The blog, at , is getting a rather "blah" response from aviation analysts and passengers advocates who say it will do little to improve process or perception.http://www.tsa.gov/blog "This will just make it easier for them to receive complaints for them to...

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- Jason -- that's the name CNN was asked to call him -- slides a simulated explosive into an elastic back support. The mock bomb is as slim as a wallet; its fuse, the size of a cigarette. He wraps the support around his torso, and the bomb fits comfortably into the small of his back. It's hard to tell he's concealing anything; harder still when he dons a black T-shirt and a maroon golf shirt. Then, with CNN's cameras in tow, Jason heads to Tampa International Airport, where he'll try to sneak the fake explosive past...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A passenger who went through an airport security checkpoint -- before remembering that he had a loaded gun -- is facing charges after going back to report his error, authorities said. Travelers go through security at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Gregory Scott Hinkle, 53, of Davis, West Virginia, went through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, an airport spokeswoman said. After the traveler evidently recalled having the gun, he returned to the checkpoint and disclosed the weapon, authorities said. The TSA contacted airport police, who charged the...

A man alerted Transportation Security Administration officials early Sunday morning that he had gotten through the main security checkpoint with a handgun, Fox 5 has exclusively learned. Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police were called to the checkpoint where the man, identified as Gregory Hinkle, turned over his firearm and was given a summons for a misdemeanor for violating Virigina Code 18.2-287.01 which prohibits firearms in an airport terminal with exceptions for law enforcement and checked luggage. -snip-

Hundreds of Americans inappropriately placed on airline security watch lists and either banned from commercial air travel or subject to additional screening have also had to worry about identity theft for the past year. The Transportation Security Administration Web site set up to help innocent travelers clear their name has been deemed "insecure." A report issued on Friday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee says that between October 6, 2006, when the TSA launched its Redress Management System [RMS] site, and February 13, 2007, when the site ceased operation following revelations about its lack of security, "[a]t least...

A 5-year-old boy was detained as "security risk" because he had the same name of someone on the TSA "No-Fly" list. The TSA had to conduct a full search of their persons and belongings. When his mother went to pick him up and hug him and comfort him during the proceedings, she was told not to touch him because he was a national security risk. They also had to frisk her again to make sure the little Dillinger hadn't passed anything dangerous weapons or materials to his mother when she hugged him.KING5 Video

If a pair of Transportation Security Administration officers strolling by a Sea-Tac Airport ticket counter wish you happy holidays and ask where you're traveling, it might be more than just Christmas spirit. Travelers at Sea-Tac and dozens of other major airports across America are being scrutinized by teams of TSA behavior-detection officers specially trained to discern the subtlest suspicious behaviors. TSA officials will not reveal specific behaviors identified by the program -- called SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) -- that are considered indicators of possible terrorist intent. But a central task is to recognize microfacial expressions -- a flash...

WASHINGTON - To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning Jan. 1, the Transportation Department said Friday. Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carryon baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger. The ban affects shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries, such as those made by Energizer Holdings Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Duracell brand. "Doing something as simple...

SAN DIEGO, (AP) -- The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday that it dropped its investigation of U.S. Rep. Bob Filner for his altercation with a baggage employee at Dulles International Airport. Members of its investigative subcommittee unanimously agreed Filner's behavior demonstrated "poor judgment" that reflected badly on the House of Representatives, but they also felt the case was adequately handled in court, according to a committee statement. The California Democrat entered a no-contest plea Nov. 26 in Loudoun County, Va., General District Court to misdemeanor trespassing charges after prosecutors dropped assault and battery counts. He was fined $100 and ordered...

On first pass, it's funny. It was reported that two newspaper investigators in Romania, dressed up in ramp uniforms emblazoned with "Al Qaeda Airways", had no problem penetrating not only the civil portions of Bucharest Airport but also the military areas as well. They planted phony bombs in various spots, and essentially had their way with the facility. The uniforms were a particularly nice touch. But on reflection, this is another warning call for US security. Inquiring minds wanted to know if this could happen here. The answer: bank on it. Not likely at smaller airports, but at a large...

An airline employee is calling an apology from San Diego Congressman Bob Filner pathetic. In August, Joanne Kay Kunkel says Filner screamed at her and shoved her aside as he headed into an employees-only area in search of his missing luggage. Filner was fined $100 and told to write Kunkel an apology. "It was a misunderstanding that escalated… I apologized to her," Filner said. "I do wish the airlines would treat us with a little more respect as passengers." Kunkel says she's still considering a civil suit against Filner

Seattle commentator Ken Schram of KOMO: "How does some inept, insensitive idiot with the IQ of room temperature even get a TSA job? That TSA screener should have his [expletive] fired. And those soldiers deserve at least an apology."

I don't think things can get more screwed up with airport security. This isn't about how investigators were able to smuggle liquid explosives and detonators past TSA screeners earlier this year. It's about the atrocious treatment endured by some Fort Lewis soldiers who were escorting the remains of a colleague home to Virginia earlier this month. Brief background: On the tarmac, an honor guard had been formed by Port of Seattle Police, airport fire and rescue and military personnel as the soldier's body was placed on the plane. A police officer then took the escort soldiers up to security. The...

NEWARK, N.J. — Millions of Americans showed up at airports and train stations early Wednesday in hopes of getting a jump on what was predicted to be the largest Thanksgiving pilgrimage ever — despite rising gas prices and fears of air delays. A record 38.7 million U.S. residents were expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday. Some were hoping to beat the evening rush on what is often called the busiest travel day of the year. But, if they try to get on the plane with a toy gun, bottles of wine, nun chucks or a pair...

A plane from JIA to Raleigh is being held on the runway because of some kind of problem on-board. Raleigh-Durham Airport Police say they got a call about a "serious disturbance" between two passengers. The plane landed and is now surrounded by police in a remote area. Our sister stations there tell us it's American Eagle flight 518. Passengers were kept on-board for more than an hour, but have since started de-planing. The FBI and TSA are both investigating

Plan ahead. Arrive early. Expect crowds. That's the advice from officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — the world's busiest — where things will be even busier this Thanksgiving holiday rush than a year ago. Airport officials say projections indicate about 4.6 percent more fliers will pass through the Atlanta airport over the next week or so than they did in the same period in 2006. About 1.7 million passengers traveled through the airport last year during the Thanksgiving holidays. Among those crowding the concourses this year: "Today" co-host Meredith Viera, who'll broadcast live Tuesday morning from Hartsfield-Jackson. The airport rush...

This TSA Suspicious Incident #177, "...has many of the elements of pre-operational terrorist planning" according to TSA Office of Intelligence. It was leaked to me earlier today in my ongoing efforts to compile terrorist dry runs and probes on airplanes. A Federal Flight Deck Officer — i.e. armed pilot, flying in non-mission status on October 24, 2007, on a flight from Washington D.C. to Milwaukee, identified himself to flight crew in advance of take-off. When flight crew witnessed suspicious behavior by four passengers, they reported the information to the FFDO. The following unfolded...One of the subjects entered and exited the...

WASHINGTON - Government investigators smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past airport security, exposing a dangerous hole in the nation's ability to keep these forbidden items off of airplanes, according to a report made public Wednesday. The investigators learned about the components to make an improvised explosive device and an improvised incendiary device on the Internet and purchased the parts at local stores, said the report by the Government Accountability Office. Investigators were able to purchase the components for the two devices for under $150, and they studied the published guidelines for screening to determine how to conceal the prohibited items...

PHOENIX (AP) - A smoking suitcase was spotted Tuesday in the cargo area at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, airport officials said. The suitcase was in the cargo hold of a US Airways plane headed to San Antonio when it started emitting smoke, said Claire Simeone, an airport spokeswoman. The plane was moved to a less busy area while authorities investigated the suitcase on the tarmac. -snip- The Phoenix Fire Department called in a hazard materials team and the owner of the suitcase is being questioned by police, Rodriguez said.

The Transportation Security Administration touts its programs to ensure security by using undercover operatives to test its airport screeners. In one instance, however, the agency thwarted such a test by alerting screeners across the country that it was under way, even providing descriptions of the undercover agents. The government routinely runs covert tests at airports to ensure that security measures in place are sufficient to stop a terrorist from bringing something dangerous onto an airplane. Alerting screeners when the undercover officer is coming through and what the person looks like would defeat the purpose. But that's exactly what happened on...

Two Arrested At Atlanta Airport With Hidden Knives, Razor Blades POSTED: 6:46 am EDT November 1, 2007 UPDATED: 12:01 pm EDT November 1, 2007 ATLANTA -- Authorities say they have ruled out terrorism in an incident in which two men tried to sneak knives and other weapons onto a flight from Atlanta to New York. One of the men even made it through security and onto the Delta Air Lines flight. Both have been charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons, according to an Atlanta police report. Authorities surrounded 60-year-old Chhaganbhai Patel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on October...

When unions can’t win collective bargaining agreements at home, they look to U.N. agencies abroad. The AFL-CIO has a preferred legal venue—the International Labor Organization (ILO)—when Congress and the courts don’t see it their way...... Organized labor won last November’s electoral lottery. The unions officially spent $105 million and received in return a promise from the new Democratic majority to push labor’s redistributionist economic agenda. They are desperate to convince politicians to give them what they cannot win in the marketplace. The impact on domestic public policy is clear. Already the House approved a minimum wage hike as part of...

Cannot post. Here is the link:http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Most+fake+bombs+missed+by+screeners+-+USATODAY.com&expire=&urlID=24478403&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2007-10-17-airport-security_N.htm%3Floc%3Dinterstitialskip&partnerID=1660

PHOENIX (AP) - 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...

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...

Hijabbed security guard frisks nun (thanks to all who sent this in). Of course there should be random searches, and no one should be exempt -- if any group is exempt, its dress will soon be adopted by the terrorists. But there is an absurdity to this photo. And a hint that maybe we would do better devoting our resources to searching those who are more likely to be threats -- were that not so politically incorrect.

(WBZ) BOSTON An MIT student with a fake bomb strapped to her chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said. Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport. "She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud...

(AP) BOSTON An MIT student has been arrested at gunpoint after allegedly walking into Logan International Airport with a fake bomb strapped to her chest this morning. State police say 19-year-old Star Simpson, a sophomore from Hawaii, had a computer circuit board, wiring and a putty that later turned out to be Play-Doh in plain view over a black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing. Stay with wbztv.com and WBZ-TV for the latest on this developing story.