Airport security check gone wrong

[meg_tdj]

Hi, all

Comments

[amiyuy]

Not directly related, but Heathrow and security and some other stories deal with other airports: reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/comments/4ui0ya/surrounded_by_armed_officers/

[meg_tdj]

Thanks!

[nineveh_uk]

You might have more luck searching for something like "airport security checks abuse" and specifying the UK.

[meg_tdj]

Ohh, thanks, that gave me some scary but useful results.

[bopeepsheep]

They do still do wanding and patting down, but it's usually very quick, and they'd need to actually find something on him for an excuse to take him away for the "deeper" inspection.

I'd have them go through his briefcase/other hand luggage staple by staple, paperclip by paperclip, to really inconvenience him, which means they'd need the co-operation of the person behind the x-ray machine. Bear in mind though that if B also dislikes A he could say "this officer is known to me personally" and request to go through another line anyway. There are never so few staff on security duty that that couldn't happen. I know this because for a long time Heathrow security staff included my cousin, and he was not allowed to have us come through his line. :)
(During the 1980s 7 members of my family, on both sides, were working there - either for the airport itself or for BA.)

[thistle_chaser]

In the US, how quick the patdown is seems to vary by airport/person doing it. I flew to see my mother last month, and both times got selected for a patdown in addition to the xray booth thingie. The first time it was nothing, the person doing it barely touched me. Coming home though, I swear to god, totally different experience (like my crotch actually being cupped -- the first time they only patted up my inner thigh, no crotch contact).

So I bet OP can be flexible on how intense the patdown is.

[meg_tdj]

Yes, I've heard horror stories of some airports going way too far with their pat-downs.

[thistle_chaser]

Yeah, I don't have issues with being touched, but I jumped (startled) when the hand made such firm contact between my legs. If the first patdown hadn't been so different, I might have been more ready for it.

Still, as much as I didn't like it, I felt bad for the screener. Even wearing gloves, I would not like to touch people like that all day...

[openidwouldwork]

Not going to Heathrow, this was going Frankfurt to Dublin:
http://openidwouldwork.livejournal.com/159450.html

And no, they didn't to 'wanding and padding', they used a full-body scanner.

[bopeepsheep]

They do if you wear an underwired bra, or (more usefully for the OP) have bits of metal in your body (e.g. replacement joints), even if you have letters to confirm that.

[openidwouldwork]

Hm, ok, don't remember what kind of bra I was wearing... and they didn't actually ask. They didn't worry about the metal in my yaw (replacement teeth). So I guess they find out odd things in the scan and then do the wanding and padding?

[bopeepsheep]

I don't know whether the metal used in dental work triggers it but yeah, I've not had my jaw wanded. I've had my torso done though, and they've even wanted a look under surgical dressings before (though that was Schiphol and Toulouse, not Heathrow).

[longlivehumour]

If he can get his co-workers to cooperate (what's the protocol when your colleague says "I think I heard this man mention bombs"?) there's quite a lot he could do without patting him down himself. It's likely B isn't aware he could ask to change line, or simply doesn't want the hassle. Think of all the little things that make you tense at airport security, and then imagine all of them happening together

[bopeepsheep]

At Heathrow I've been allowed to hang on to the side of the scanner, have my stick put through the x-ray, and then either a security guard offers an arm for me to go through or they hold my stick so that I can grab it through the scanner and walk through (the stick staying on the scanned side). This works because I don't need my stick right by my hip in order to move, so isn't a solution for everyone. But Heathrow is particularly good for disability awareness/assistance in my personal experience.

[meg_tdj]

Thanks, that's incredibly helpful!