[Michael Rivero]

"Did they take your camera apart? Did they tear open the lining? Did they check underneath the strap? Did they check your keyring? "

They looked through the camera (SLR) and took the lens off. And yes they checked my keyring, and what they say is is that it was a purely random check, that every so many bags coming through get a thorough inspection.

Congratulations on your being able to get a knife on board a plane. You have been very lucky not to get caught. But terrorists cannot rely on luck, they have to plan, because if just one of them had gotten caught, it would increase the chances that more of them would get caught, not to mention that the US would know who to launch the nukes at.

And you are still evading the second point I raised, that somehow these four teams knew they would be on flights that did not have sky marshalls and that they could use their knives without fear of being shot.

[GEC]

I doubt that we still have sky marshalls.

[mrjeff]

Your view of airport security is sanguine, to put it mildly. I did not smuggle a knife on board an airplane. I did it in broad daylight. I handed the thing to the security person. And I have done it repeatedly. And I know I am not an anomaly. I have spoken to others who do the same thing. IT IS NOT EVEN ILLEGAL. faa faq I guarantee you it happens thousands of times every day (when the planes are flying).

As far as the air marshall issue - I have said, air marshal presence is rare. All they had to do was take their chances.