Investigators At A Loss To Explain Alarms And Nausea
The TSA shut down Meadows Field airport (BFL) in Bakersfield, CA, on Wednesday after several bottles of honey set off explosive detection monitors. Two TSA agents were also taken to the hospital after smelling the then-unknown substance and feeling nauseated. "The substances in the bottles did turn out to be honey. They tested negative for all explosives and narcotics. It is nothing but honey," FBI spokesman Steve Dupre told Reuters.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood reported that the bottles initially tested positive for traces of the explosive TNT. Two security screeners were taken to a nearby hospital for nausea after handling the bottles and reporting a strong chemical odor. They were treated and released. Sheriff Youngblood speculated that the TSA agents may have felt nauseous because they were "just nervous."
The owner of the bottles is gardener Francisco Ramirez, 31, who had been visiting family in CA. After spending most of the day being questioned by police, he was allowed to complete his trip home to Milwaukee after having his honey cleared as non-explosive. There is no word on what may have caused the detectors to set off alarms.
Wow... now THAT'S pretty damn funny, and down right embarrassing to a government organization who is tasked with protecting all air travelers.
Yet, that's not all that's in the news with our friends at the TSA.... How about feeling up small children?
Taken from Wired.com
Eight-Year-Old on TSA Terrorist Watchlist Gets Frisked
Mikey Hicks, a Cub Scout in Camden, New Jersey, is a frequent flyer who can’t seem to get a break because he shares a name with another Michael Hicks who has drawn suspicion from the Department of Homeland Security.
This coincidence has resulted in numerous airport delays for his family over the years.
Mikey, who was born less than a month before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, received his first pat-down by TSA screeners when he was 2 years old — an experience that left him in tears.
He was recently frisked aggressively when his family flew to the Bahamas for vacation on Jan 2, just days after the so-called “underwear bomber” attempted to ignite explosives on a flight from Amsterdam to Michigan.
“Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch — someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal,” Mikey’s mother told the newspaper. “A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked.”
Mikey’s mother, Najlah Feanny Hicks, is a photojournalist who was cleared by the Secret Service to travel aboard Air Force II with Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration.
She said she wanted to take pictures of her son being frisked at the airport but was told it was prohibited. She said that while her son “may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane.”
Despite the scout’s years-long harassment, his father, also named Michael Hicks, was never stopped by the TSA until this year, during the trip to the Bahamas.
And just think... as flight crew members, these are some the fine people we enjoy working with everyday we come to work.
Let's also consider something else. "Pilot Stig" will likely be placed on a terror watch list for this, but I'm just going to lay out some facts.
Commercial Airline Pilots:
Qualifications: Commercial or ATP pilot license, 4-year college degree usually required as well. To get a commercial pilot license, you must first earn a private license, then an instrument rating. Then, you can get a commercial single-engine rating. Then, you can work on a multi-engine commercial rating. Many airline pilots have been certified flight instructors as well. Many have 3 additional ratings for this, flight instructor, instrument instructor, and multi-engine instructor. Nearly all ratings require written FAA knowledge tests as well as practical exams. This training can run in excess of $80,000. To be eligible for hire, a pilot will typically have to build between 500-1000 hours of flight time on their own. When hired, the pilot will be type-rated in the aircraft they will fly for the airline. This cost depends heavily on the specific aircraft, but for most regional airlines, this is roughly $25,000 worth of training. Additional written and practical tests must be passed to obtain said type rating. Starting salary: $18,000-$25,000
Transportation Security Officer (TSO):
Qualifications: Applicants must be proficient in English (e.g., reading, writing,
speaking, and listening); and have a high school diploma, GED or equivalent; OR have at least one year of full-time work experience in security work, aviation screener work, or X-ray technician work. Starting salary: $29,131.00 (taken from usajobs.gov)
Interesting comparison, when you think about it...
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