TSA

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Airport Security Secrets Posted Online

Probe launched after mix-up reveals sensitive information

(Newser) - The federal Transportation Security Administration is investigating a mix-up that revealed agency secrets relating to airport passenger screening in an online posting. A security manual posted on a government website in March with sensitive information—including technical settings for explosive detectors—redacted was removed days ago when the agency realized...

Airports Crack Down on Powder
 Airports Crack Down on Powder 
Sep 18, 2009 1:06 PM CDT

Airports Crack Down on Powder

New anti-explosive measures complement limits on liquids

(Newser) - Air travelers have yet another thing to worry about when packing their bags: powder. Federal authorities haven’t banned or even restricted baby powder, makeup, talcum powder, and the like, but the TSA is outfitting airports around the country with new kits to test such seemingly innocuous material for explosives....

8 Years On, Critics Call Airport Security 'Theater'

Critics see cockeyed focus on 'pointy objects,' none on real threats

(Newser) - Billions of dollars in spending since 9/11 has given airport security officers plenty of ways to catch terrorists—but are critics right in calling it "security theater"? Take the “millimeter wave whole body imager,” which pinpoint “anomalies” on your person: Sure, it will spot a...

Congressional Run-Ins With TSA Continue

(Newser) - It’s not quite a David Vitter, but Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio had his own run-in with airport security this week, the Washington Post reports. DeFazio, one of the architects of the Transportation Security Administration, had to endure what he thought was an unnecessary search. But when he told the...

Families, Line Up Here—if You Have Time

Airports to offer security lane for kin, travel newbies

(Newser) - Airports will allow families to line up in more leisurely security lanes for the coming holiday season, the AP reports. The checkpoints, which have proven popular in tests at 48 US airports, allow slow-moving families to stick together and less seasoned travelers to avoid scrambling for standard Transportation Security Administration...

Military Opens $15M Dog Hospital

'Canine Walter Reed' will treat pooches wounded in combat

(Newser) - If GI Rover gets injured in Iraq, chances are he'll end up at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where the "Walter Reed of the veterinary world" has just opened. The base has long been training pups for service in all branches of the military, but its old animal...

TSA Set to Flush Liquid Restrictions

X-ray technology that can spot bomb materials may be ready by year's end

(Newser) - The oft-frustrating 3-ounces-in-a-baggie restriction on carrying liquids through airport security could be gone within a year, the Wall Street Journal reports. After testing out X-ray technology that detects bomb-making fluids, the Transportation Security Administration’s only remaining step is making sure the software works. “It’s not ready yet,...

US Terror Watch List Tops 400K
US Terror Watch List Tops 400K
Jul 14, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

US Terror Watch List Tops 400K

As ledger exceeds 1M records, ACLU calls it 'unfair,' feds call it 'effective'

(Newser) - Washington's terror suspect list has topped the 1-million milestone, Reuters reports. That adds up to 400,000 people, including duplicates, about 50,000 of whom are tagged with “no-fly” status. The American Civil Liberties Union slammed the list as poorly managed and too long to be effective. The ACLU...

New Bags Let Laptop Users Fly Through Security

TSA is on board with a few different models

(Newser) - Eagerly awaited "checkpoint friendly" luggage is at last in the pipeline, and travelers will be able to clear airport security without removing laptops from their bags by September or October, the New York Times reports. The TSA-approved bags allow security personnel to see computers on X-ray machines through either...

Security Could Get A Bit Easier
 Security Could Get A Bit Easier 
May 22, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

Security Could Get A Bit Easier

TSA will likely let laptops stay in (some) cases

(Newser) - In a few months, travelers likely will be able to take their laptops through airport security without removing them from their cases—if they buy special new cases, that is. The Transportation Security Administration will probably begin accepting new forms of carrying cases that allow unobstructed x-ray views of the...

Law & Order Star Busted for Gun at LAX

Dennis Farina faces weapons charge

(Newser) - Former Law & Order star Dennis Farina was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday for carrying a concealed, loaded and unregistered .22 caliber handgun, reports E! Online. Farina, 64, had been planning  to fly to his hometown of Chicago. The actor, who has played cops and criminals in several...

LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans
LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans
Apr 18, 2008 9:59 AM CDT

LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans

'Total body imaging' devices look under clothes for weapons

(Newser) - New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep...

Feds Bust Plane Passenger With Bomb Parts in Baggage

Fellow Orlando fliers not at risk: authorities

(Newser) - A Jamaican national was arrested after checking a bag at Orlando International Airport that contained the makings of pipe bombs, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The FBI detained Kevin Brown, 32, after a TSA “behavior specialist” spotted him during check-in yesterday. He was charged with attempting to carry an explosive...

TSA Changes Rules on Nipple Rings
TSA Changes
Rules on
Nipple Rings
Mar 29, 2008 6:23 AM CDT

TSA Changes Rules on Nipple Rings

Airport security will settle for 'visual inspection,' not removal

(Newser) - Airport security guards who forced a woman to remove her nipple rings with pliers were following procedures, according to the TSA—but they agree it's time for some new procedures, CNN reports. Pierced passengers pulled over for inspection will in future be told they have the option of showing the...

Woman Forced to Remove Nipple Rings at Airport

She demands apology, threatens lawsuit

(Newser) - A Texas woman is calling for an apology after airport security in Lubbock forced her to pull out her nipple piercings with a pair of pliers before boarding her plane, the AP reports. When her chest set off the security wand, Mandi Hamlin offered to show a female guard her...

Pilot's Gun Accidentally Fires in Cockpit

Discharge is first incident since passage of new law

(Newser) - A pilot’s gun went off in the cockpit of a US Airways plane just as it was landing in North Carolina this weekend, the AP reports. It was the first time a gun was discharged inside a plane since pilots were armed in the wake of 9/11. Though no...

Boarding Passes Are So Last Year
Boarding Passes Are So Last Year
Mar 19, 2008 1:38 PM CDT

Boarding Passes Are So Last Year

Many airlines are transitioning to using cell phones instead

(Newser) - Airlines are working on transitioning their electronic check-in systems to allow passengers to use their cell phones as boarding passes. Continenal is the first to test the system, in which a scannable bar code is displayed on the phone's screen, and the passenger never has to deal with a paper...

Bomb Dogs Will Ride Amtrak
Bomb Dogs Will Ride Amtrak
Feb 19, 2008 5:33 AM CST

Bomb Dogs Will Ride Amtrak

Security stepped up on nation's rail system

(Newser) - Amtrak is stepping up security, with random screening of carry-on bags and security teams packing machine guns and leading bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains, reports AP. The new system, beginning this week, echoes stricter security procedures at the nation's airports. Amtrak insists there should be no additional departure delays...

Travel Costs Rise, But for What?
Travel Costs Rise, But for What?
OPINION
Feb 13, 2008 12:30 PM CST

Travel Costs Rise, But for What?

2008 is the 'year of the fee,' but one writer demands more in return

(Newser) - We can't duck travel fees imposed by air carriers, hotels, and Uncle Sam, so let's demand more in return, Christopher Elliott writes on MSNBC. Airlines are adding $25 baggage fees and "probably illegal" fuel surcharges, and the TSA will add a “temporary” bump in security fees—so can't...

Improved Security Lost in 'Maze'
Improved Security Lost in 'Maze'
Feb 8, 2008 5:22 PM CST

Improved Security Lost in 'Maze'

Post-9/11 promises haven't translated into better airport security systems

(Newser) - Whiz-bang technology that would keep terrorists from destroying airplanes, promised after the 9/11 attacks, hasn't materialized, the Washington Post reports. The various players blame each other for bureaucratic, legal, and market failures. One security-industry exec calls the Transportation Security Administration "a maze"; TSA officials blame firms for not delivering...

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