just forget about it. it's hopeless.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/transformers_t_shirt/

An IT consultant who attempted to board a British Airways flight to Dusseldorf at Heathrow's T5 wearing a Transformers t-shirt was told to take off the offending apparel or else, The Sun reports.

Brad Jayakody, 30, was travelling with four colleagues and ill-advisedly decided to sport an image of Optimus Prime wielding a menacing cartoon gun.

He explained: "My mate set off the alarms and was searched. But then the guy told me to stop and said ‘you cannot get on the plane because there is a gun on your t-shirt’."

Jayakody then asked to see the security chief, but didn't get the attack of common sense he was expecting. He continued: "I was flabbergasted. I thought the supervisor would come over and see sense, but he didn’t. After I changed he said if I changed back I would be arrested."

He added: "It’s a cartoon robot with a gun as an arm. What was I going to do, use the shirt to pretend I have a gun?"

A spokesman for Heathrow operator BAA offered: "If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it. We are investigating what happened to see if it came under this category."


if this guy can't get on a plane because of an Optimus Prime t-shirt, what chance do we have?

I love these stories.

My favorite of late is the woman who was forced to take out her nipple rings before being allowed through the metal detector and into the boarding area...they gave her the pliers but wouldn't let her do it in a private room. She had to do it there or not get on the plane.

Yeah for stupid people! They shall inherit the earth, and with what they are doing to it, they are welcome to it.

Now where did I stick my thumb....

"Everyone stand back! He's got a T-shirt!!"

Note to self: Don't wear a Transformers T-shirt to blend in.

Jeanette Isabelle

Soon we will all fly naked. That may be a great thing, or a very bad thing...

A bad thing.

I've been able to cut back my flying over 90%. By pushing for video conferencing at work and cutting many unnecessary trips, it's amazing how much I stay at home now.

And the govt. thinks it's because I'm scared of another 9/11. Wrong. It's because I'm irritated at the stupidity. I'll bet most flyers agree.

We have not flown in about four years. Got a flight scheduled for early Oct, and we are not looking forward to it (unless the "fly naked" thing kicks in by then)...

The gal should just have said fine, walked to a bathroom, removed them, and then come back through the security checkpoint.

I don't mind enhanced safety, as long as it doesn't border on harassment and just stupidity...

I also remember a Medal of Honor recipient not being allowed to board the plane with his medal in a carry on because it had a sharp pin on it...

that is just messed up!

agreed. you know the system has ceased to be functional when the fastening pin on an award medal is considered a dangerous weapon.

Esp. for a Medal of Honor winner!

Having just returned from another air trip, I relate the following story.

On this trip, a one day in and out to a southern city, I carried in my rolling card a video projector, which we use for our pitch presentation to Potential Client.

Also on my person is a home-made burrito (I bring food on my trips, because I can't ever find healthy choices when I travel), and in rolling bag, in a pouch, is, as there has been for over a year, a small folding knife:
The knife was accidentally left in a pouch and it was my intention to remove it long ago, but the knife has been to Chicago with me so many times, that I decided to just leave it in there.

Well, my bag has been hand-checked several times (the burrito always gets attention) and it's been about a year now and not once have they picked up on this knife. I have a mailer, ready to go, but the knife just sits there.

I feel safer.

Don't let them see that picture, they won't let you on the plane with it...

TSA:

• Those Silly A**es
• Thousands Standing Around
• Taking Scissors Away
• Travel Suppression Agency
• Tired, Stupid, & Angry
• Terrorists Slip Aboard

Tee Shirt Agents...

"Travel Suppression Agency" That's how I view them. I won't step foot in an air terminal.

Given what is happening now, it looks like the terrorists have won.

Jeanette Isabelle

Airport authority has stupid policies to screen out dangerous people. If they can't differentiate between a movie T-shirt and a real weapon, we have serious problem.

what will airport screener do if a woman wear a sport bra?

Several years ago before they change their policies, the TSA actually confiscated a single use 0.5g Blistex lip balm that I had in my toiletry kit, claiming that the 1" long foil package that contained it was "sharp" and could be used as a "weapon".

Gobblers.

Jim

i'd say that definitely gives the t-shirt nonsense a run for the title of Best of the Best of the Worst in airport security craziness. At the rate things are going, the airline security agencies will replace the public school boards as the default punchline of "crazy rules enforced in even crazier ways" stories.

So we have the horror stories, what about the flip side: what has actually worked for a TSA-compliant EDC PSK and FAK?