Some restrictions eased at U.S. airports

AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/13/06 | John Heilprin - ap

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - Air travelers were handed new rules Sunday, given permission to carry small amounts of liquid nonprescription medicine onto a plane and instructed to remove their shoes during security checks.

The shoes have to be placed on an X-ray belt for screening before passengers can put them back on.

The eased restrictions on medicine and the mandatory shoe removal were among several measures the Transportation Security Administration ordered Sunday in response to the thwarted terror plot in Britain involving U.S.-bound airplanes.

TSA had previously banned all liquid medications; now it will allow up to 4 ounces of liquid nonprescription medicine.

The alleged conspirators had planned to blow up as many as 10 planes flying from Britain to the U.S. using liquid explosives, which TSA's security equipment can't detect in carryon luggage.

In other measures, TSA said it would let flyers carry on low blood sugar treatments including glucose gel for diabetics; solid lipstick; and baby food. But it said all aerosols are prohibited.

On Saturday, the TSA added mascara to the list of banned items, which includes baby teethers with gel or liquid inside, children's toys with gel inside and gel candles.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff reassured people things would only go so far.

"I don't see us moving to a total ban on hand baggage at this point," he told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Chertoff said the government was putting "less emphasis on the nail clippers and the nail scissors" and more on training additional screeners "specifically to look for modern-type detonation equipment that might be concealed in baggage."

TSA said it wanted to remove any ambiguity from its procedures, particularly over the handling of shoes.

Until now, the agency has strongly suggested removing shoes for the screening belt, but hasn't required that.

Now, travelers must take them off before walking onto airplanes. Flyers can continue to wear shoes containing gel heels, but they must remove any sort of gel sole insert and put those into checked baggage.

Airport travelers also should expect to see broader use of police-trained sniffing dogs, TSA said, along with random gate inspections and bag searches. But the TSA is limited by law to 45,000 screeners at the 450 commercial airports.

TSA chief Kip Hawley said the latest changes were based on feedback from security officers and the public.

"We are maintaining the same level of security while clarifying interpretations in the field," he said Sunday. "These tweaks are aimed at making a smoother process at the checkpoint."

The changes offer the same level of security that has been in place since last Thursday, but is intended to minimize the impact on travelers, officials said.

Screeners have begun searching more carryon luggage by hand. They also are randomly checking passengers at airport gates to make sure that they haven't bought toothpaste or drinks at airport shops after going through a security checkpoint.

Passengers are asked to arrive at least two hours early to allow for the additional screening. Those traveling to the United Kingdom should find out from their about any extra security measures or precautions that might be required. Laptop computers, mobile phones and iPods were among items banned on British flights.

The nation's threat level remains the highest possible, "severe," or "red," for U.S.-bound commercial flights originating in Britain. All other flights operating in or destined for the United States remain at "high," or "orange."

___

On the Net:

TSA: http://www.tsa.gov

[NormsRevenge]

No video games tho.. Yet.

Lorraine Catley, second from left, who just arrived in Boston from London via American Airlines, shows her family's carry-on belongings in plastic bags at Terminal B at Logan International Airport, in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, as her sons, Daniel, 15, left, Jason, 10, second from right, and her husband Andrew, right, look on. The security alert was raised at Logan and other airports around the nation after officials in Great Britain disrupted a terror plot to blow up airplanes from London to the United States. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

[A message]

The shoes have to be placed on an X-ray belt for screening before passengers can put them back on.

This has been the SOP since the Reid episode. I have yet to be in a U.S. airport that doesn't require shoe removal and screening since that time.

[butternut_squash_bisque]

"...it will allow up to 4 ounces of liquid..."

4 ozs of nitroglycerine can do a lot of damage, especially to an airplane's hull in flight.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I have a question. Can you take an empty bottle with you and ask the stewardess to fill it for you? I suck down more water then a salt cedar on a plane trip and I would hate to have the nice ladies running back and fourth bringing me water.

[NormsRevenge]

good question, I don;t know.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

4 ozs of nitroglycerine can do a lot of damage,

Maybe they have you shake the bottle. :)

[GarySpFc]

You can carry the 4 oz of nitro if you want, but I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 100 foot pole.

[vox humana]

More TSA insanity. They don't have a clue, so they just keep changing the rules. Idiots!

[butternut_squash_bisque]

"shake the bottle" = BOOM!

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Personally, I'd want to be much farther away than 100ft, G.

[uglybiker]

I still ain't gettin' on no plane without my Zippo.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yep! ;-)

[COEXERJ145]

Nitroglycerin is very unstable and would likely go BOOM long before the idiot could get it on the plane.

[tessalu]

America needs alternative means of public tranportation.

[brityank]

Passenger Annie Jacobsen reported earlier this month in Women's Wall Street that the Syrians consecutively filed in and out of restrooms, stood nearly the entire flight in congregations of two and three, carried a McDonald's bag into the lavatory and passed it to another Syrian, and carried cameras and cellular phones to the restroom.

Just before landing, seven of the men jumped up in unison and went inside the restrooms. Upon returning to his seat, one man mouthed the word "no" as he ran his finger across his throat.

The men were flying on a one-way ticket via Northwest, and returning on a one-way ticket aboard JetBlue.

Syrian Band ^

Willful blindness !!

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Methinks you're right, C. That'd be Reason #5 why I don't fly anymore... Reason #1 being, TWA 800.

[Cobra64]

Flyers can continue to wear shoes containing gel heels, but they must remove any sort of gel sole insert and put those into checked baggage.

Achmed. Do you have gel in your shoes? Nope. No? Okay, come ahead....

[Cobra64]

This has been the SOP since the Reid episode. I have yet to be in a U.S. airport that doesn't require shoe removal and screening since that time.

I have... only once out of 50+ plus flights.