Posted on 02/15/2005 12:58:00 PM PST by cardinal4
Airport screener misses butcher knife
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A security screener at Newark Liberty International Airport failed to spot a butcher knife in a passenger's pocketbook and was removed from the post for retraining, officials said.
Katrina Bell, 27, had cleared security and was waiting with her sister to board a flight on Saturday morning when she discovered she was carrying a knife.
Bell had put the knife in her bag "just in case" before going on a blind date earlier that week, her sister and travel companion, Tikisha Bell Gowens, 30, said in The Sunday Star-Ledger of Newark.
"She said to me, 'Oh my God, I have this butcher knife in my pocketbook,'" Bell Gowens said. "My first thought was, 'They're going to think we're terrorists.'"
The North Carolina women immediately told airport personnel, who summoned police and officials of the Transportation Security Administration, which employs the screeners.
The women were not charged.
The screener was removed from the checkpoint and will undergo remedial training, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said.
"The knife was in a cluttered handbag," Davis said. "It was characterized to me as difficult to detect."
The incident was only the latest embarrassment for screeners at one of the airports from which some of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers took off.
In December, baggage screeners at the airport lost a fake bomb planted in luggage by a supervisor during a training exercise. Despite an hours-long search, the fake bomb made it onto an Amsterdam-bound flight.
Two security supervisors were fired after the incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
The next guy who dates our little Katrina had better be REAL careful when he Pats her down.
Remember Poke Salad Annie.
A BUTCHER KNIFE in a pocketbook? Must be some big pocketbook. (I'm guessing the meant "purse" or "handbag".)
Wouldn't it make more sene to flag middle eastern muslim men?
I sound like a radical. (extra-sarcasm)
I can only guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
Or, maybe she was secretly hoping to meet someone with a blood fetish.
The knife was just a little 'street insurance policy' against a blind date that might have gone wrong. Or else this broad has one STRANGE idea of foreplay.
No argument..but effective security/screening would also shut down our air transport system. Look at Israel...you drop your bags at the airport the day before your flight..no ifs ands, or buts..in order to do the proper screenign of all carry on stuff, including our persons..we should require people to check in THREE hours before the flight..if we're NOT willing to do that, and accept the extra time required, then we have NO right to bitch when a knife gets missed..BTW..the simple fact that it's so obvious is probably a good precusor that the person did make a mistake, had NO harmful intent..
It would be one thing if it was a small penknife or something. This was a friggin' butcher knife. I cant bring my fly rod or flies on board, you should have seen the pow-wow over my scuds and nymphs, and in the end I had to take a later flight as there was no place to leave my gear. They should have examined the need, came up with a plan comensurate with the need, and implemented it. All we see here is a Government job designed to inspire mediocrity. As a result, ya gets whats ya pays for..
It means you are so stupid that you didn't figure out that you should search all handbags the first time you were trained so we'll try again rather than fire you and go through the "Appeals Process"!
Again..you igored my points..WE have to be willign to accept the delays, the extra time, for the security, and we're NOT, as a people.. MIstakes will always happen..This just points up ONE instance..and maligns a lot of good people..It's a thankless job..
Not a good day for the TSA...
My husband just got stopped going through security on our flight home yesterday for carrying a Swiss army knife. This happens to us more than it should, because we use the same backpack for camping/hiking as a carry-on... But anyway, they caught it on the way home, but not on the flight to our destination. So yeah, it's hit or miss.
Maybe guys that have had their eyes stabbed out?
No I didnt. I travel frequently and see it first hand. Because of mandatory breaks, it is not uncommon to see 20-30 screeners sitting around at BWI or STL. If there are enough people working to send 30 people on break at one time, there should never be anything getting by. Once in DEN, because of a lot of sick calls, there were only two aisles open to get past security for about 4 hours. We had a staged crew there, who didnt have DEN badges (who had priority)so they waited in line for 2 hours and 45 mins. Our 2:40pm departure left after 530pm. Thats unacceptable. I attended a meeting about this very instance, when I had to report on the progress made, I had nothing to tell them. What I saw going at this meeting made realize that this way will not work. I dont know what will, but this currnt system wont..
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