Has anyone here checked out the restrooms on the planes lately? Is there anyplace to hide something?Well I flew on two British Airways Boeing 747-400's (holds 400 passengers, huge plane) in my trip to London. Although I didn't do a full check of the bathroom for places to hide something, I can tell you that there is about enough room to fit a person and that's all. It is more likely that a device would have to be passed to each other once outside the bathroom. With all the talk about this, I was always vigilant as to who was going in and out of the bathrooms. During any hightened alert period I feel the airlines should check people/bags going into the bathrooms.
"I feel the airlines should check people/bags going into the bathrooms."
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Australia's Qantas May Ban Bathroom Lines
By JAMIE TARABAY
SYDNEY, Australia (AP)--Australia's Qantas Airways said Wednesday that U.S. authorities are now banning passengers from gathering near restrooms and other places on flights to America _ an order the Australian government thinks might be impractical.
Commercial flights across the Pacific Ocean from Australia to the United States' west coast are among the world's longest.
``The U.S. Transport Security Administration are now requiring that passengers on flights to the U.S. are not to congregate in groups in any areas of the aircraft, especially around the lavatories,'' a Qantas spokeswoman said.
Australia's Transport Minister John Anderson, who is also deputy prime minister, described the ban as ``a little bit hard to handle.''
Qantas said passengers were being told about the new rules.
``Qantas pilots are making pre-flight announcements to this effect and cabin crew are monitoring passengers during the flight. We do not expect this to be a significant issue at all, and it only applies to flights to the United States,'' the airline said in a statement released Wednesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Qantas official would not disclose whether the airline had received the directive straight from the U.S. Transport Security Administration or from Australian aviation authorities.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6843.AP-Australia-Air-S.html"During any hightened alert period I feel the airlines should check people/bags going into the bathrooms."
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Another article:
Wednesday, January 7, 2004 · Last updated 2:17 p.m. PT
TSA discourages lavatory lines on planes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Airlines have been asked to tell passengers they shouldn't congregate near aircraft lavatories because of security concerns, the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.
The agency in mid-December sent an advisory to airlines asking them to inform passengers that they should not gather in groups on airplanes, especially near the restroom, said spokesman Darrin Kayser.
"It formalizes the idea that we don't want people congregating in the airplane," Kayser said.
The Australian airline Qantas said in a statement that its pilots are making pre-flight announcements about gathering near restrooms and cabin crew are monitoring passengers during the flight. "We do not expect this to be a significant issue at all, and it only applies to flights to the United States," the airline said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/apbiz_story.asp?category=1310&slug=Airline%20Security