# Weapon allowed on plane



## Disenchantedsailor (1 Aug 2007)

All the usual disclaimers


Not only did he get past security, he got all the way to Ottawa.



July 31, 2007 

Weapon allowed on plane
Security fails to stop man 
By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA



Passengers pass a sign at Calgary International Airport yesterday that is posted at the entrance of the security screening area at the departure level. Despite the sign listing items passengers aren't allowed to carry onto aircraft, a man accidentally carried a multitool, including knife blade, onto a plane after lapses in security occurred, despite the fact that the weapon was detected. (Jack Cusano, Sun Media) 
Security screeners at Calgary International Airport detected a weapon but it was still allowed on a flight to Ottawa, said a federal official. 

When it was confirmed the multitool -- which includes a knife blade -- had made it into a secure area of the terminal on Sunday evening, about 500 already-cleared passengers were re-screened, delaying their flights for an hour, said Anna-Karina Tabunar, spokeswoman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). 

"Another screener was told about it and they tried to locate the passenger and during this process he managed to board his flight to Ottawa," said Tabunar. 

"There was an error on the part of the screening operator who wasn't following proper procedure ... we knew all along there was a prohibited item." 

She said the man was met by police at Ottawa's airport but when it was determined he had made an honest mistake in possessing the tool in his carry-on baggage, it was decided not to press charges. 

Last December, Calgary Airport Authority president Garth Atkinson sent a letter to CATSA, complaining the screening it oversees there was "the absolute worst in Canada" after 30 pieces of luggage were loaded on a flight to Houston without their owners. 

Authority spokesman John Terpstra said yesterday screeners do a good job but some concerns remain over staffing levels. 

"I'd like to see more staff but they've come a long ways," said Terpstra. 

Tabunar said "corrective measures" would be taken in response to the latest breach, likely including the re-training of security personnel. 

Given the number of annual air passengers in Canada -- 40 million -- and the 5,200 screening staff to process them, "there will be human error," she said. 

"This incident is still under investigation." 

Tabunar said it's also incumbent on the public to know which articles are banned to avoid delays. 

"Every single day at every airport screeners intercept knives, box cutters and scissors," she said. 

"It really underscores the need for people to be aware now that we're heading into August, which is the busiest travel month." 

On Saturday in the airport's concourse A, about 200 passengers were delayed when a security officer believed he'd spotted a suspicious article. 

There turned out to be no such item present. 

"We'll always err on the side of caution," said Tabunar.


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## 1feral1 (1 Aug 2007)

What about a Bic pen, or the cutlery one is given to consume his horrid airline meal with.

However, I do agree with the laws and restrictions, but what I am saying if someone is determined to cause harm to another, he is going to use whatever he has at hand.

There is more than plenty of nutcases out there.

Enough said.

Wes


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## Disenchantedsailor (1 Aug 2007)

or a credit card (when broken can be mighty sharp) or a laptop over the head. Really anything can be a weapon if you want it to be.


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## q_1966 (1 Aug 2007)

or a lighter for the smokers...


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## Disenchantedsailor (1 Aug 2007)

I think lighters are already banned, I could be wrong though.


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## q_1966 (1 Aug 2007)

i might be out of touch with new rules as I dont smoke lol


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## 48 highlander (1 Aug 2007)

there are companies that make plastic knives comparable to metal ones(apparently), i doubt x-ray will pick that up and metal detectors definitely wont


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## LordOsborne (3 Aug 2007)

George Carlin's HBO special had some good tirades on airline security..  :blotto:

"Suppose you were a guy with really, big, hands. Couldn't you strangle a flight attendant? S**t, you could probably strangle two of them, one with each hand! You know - if you were lucky enough to catch them in that little kitchen area..."

"You could kill a pilot with a table knife.. might take you a couple of minutes though.. 'specially if he was hefty, huh?"

"S**t, there's probably a lot you could kill a guy with.. you could probably beat a guy to death with the Sunday New York Times, couldn't you?"


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## Greymatters (3 Aug 2007)

This is what happens when you are afraid to use profiling and cant check people's backgrounds because of privacy laws...


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## TN2IC (5 Aug 2007)

ArtyNewbie said:
			
		

> I think lighters are already banned, I could be wrong though.



Your wrong... only on US bound flights I believe...


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## Cronicbny (5 Aug 2007)

Lighters must be in a plastic baggie. You will then pass through security where you may remove them from the baggie at your leisure. Never made much sense to me.


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## combat_medic (5 Aug 2007)

OK, let's be honest, who here (particularly Engineers, Pioneers and other explosive-minded types) could not think of a dozen ways, right off the top of your head to either smuggle a weapon on board a plane, or smuggle enough explosives to do some serious damage?

A teenager with a 4th grade reading level and a high speed modem would be able to figure out how to do all this with a couple hours on a web browser. The security at an airport is not foolproof by any means, nor would it be even if passengers couldn't bring any baggage and had to strip down to their skivvies to get through security. 

There are enough polymers, plastics, and other non-metallic objects out there that you don't have to look hard to find one that can be used as a weapon.


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## Colin Parkinson (5 Aug 2007)

One of the people I was traveling with from smithers BC, took his bear spray accidently on board, they never found it despite search all the baggage before boarding.


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## JackD (5 Aug 2007)

Well, airport screening.. i can remember going off on some exercise from the Vancouver airport (in the 70's) - some 40 of us bound for the wilds of Shilo Manitoba, each one of us carrying our personal weapons and kit.. each one of us going through the metal detector, each one of us setting it off, each one of us searched with the wand... Good thing we were not stripped searched and told to bend over. The airport security guards do not seem to be the brightest minds... By the way, my first name is Jack.. on meeting my family at airports I or they often got into trouble - yes you get it - "Hi Jack!"...


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## bllusc (19 Aug 2007)

How about the top notch airport security protecting us and our loves ones being paid by the lowest bidder at minimum wage?

Organized crime gets things onto planes all the time...human security is still only human and things are going to slip past. 

My father in law was a commercial airline pilot and they had to wear their photo id tags going into the restricted area. His coworker taped a photo of his dog onto his picture for giggles. For years, nobody even looked and he retired with his dog's picture still on the card.

Brian


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## redleafjumper (19 Aug 2007)

Gee, I've taken bagpipes as a carry-on several times, on both domestic and international flights.  They're well-renowned as an instrument of war, yet no security guard has ever stopped me.  If they fell into the wrong hands...

 ;D

Cheers,


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## kratz (19 Aug 2007)

bllusc said:
			
		

> How about the top notch airport security protecting us and our loves ones being paid by the lowest bidder at minimum wage?
> 
> Organized crime gets things onto planes all the time...human security is still only human and things are going to slip past.
> 
> ...



Thank you. I enjoyed reading that comment.  ;D


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## Greymatters (20 Aug 2007)

Unfortunately our Commissionaires arent much better at some places.  I recall a former associate who taped a cartoon chracter onto his ID card and no one noticed Bart Simpson having the run of the place for about three weeks.


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## Disenchantedsailor (20 Aug 2007)

I'm pretty sure I flashed my bank card at the commish about 5 years ago, worked like a charm, kinda scares you.


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## brihard (3 Sep 2007)

Hell, a buddy of mine coming back from Maple Defender in Wainwright later on noticed that his carry on (CF small pack) had had a blank round kicking around in the bottom of it. It was never picked up. Edmonton-Toronto-Ottawa with a round on his person.


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## Meridian (3 Sep 2007)

These things are showing up in more airports I see...   

Not sure how sensitive they are, but they appear to be setup to detect even minute traces of explosives.

SMITHS IONSCAN

Went through one in IND.

http://www.smiths-aerospace.com/News/Archive/2003/Orders-approaching--3M-received-for-Smiths-IONSCAN--France-I/index.asp


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## TCBF (3 Sep 2007)

Of course, if we sacked all of the baggage handlers with criminal records, we'd be loading the baggage ourselves.  But, no security issues there.  Nope.


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## Meridian (3 Sep 2007)

Sorry,

I guess the 400B is the baggage screening.

I went through the Sentinel II in Indy.
http://www.smiths-aerospace.com/News/Archive/2003/Smiths-earns-major-contracts-for-additional-airport-screenin/index.asp


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## danchapps (3 Sep 2007)

With regards to the lighters bit. My family flew from Ottawa to Vancouver. My stepmother, who is a very avid smoker was scanned by security, where they found she had 5 lighters in her purse. (When I say avid I mean HEAVY) She was informed that she was allowed only 3 lighters on her person while in the restricted area, and she needed to give up 2 of the lighters. Now, I'm no rocket scientist, but we have 2 hands, which means that if she did try to set the seat on fire, if 1 goes dead, she still has a back up! They should have kept 4 of them.


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## portcullisguy (9 Sep 2007)

Colin P said:
			
		

> One of the people I was traveling with from smithers BC, took his bear spray accidently on board, they never found it despite search all the baggage before boarding.



Bear spray on an airplane is a really stupid idea.  Aerosols such as OC and bear spray have been banned from passenger cabins for a long time, long before 9/11 and heightened security.

The reason is, if the container leaks, then everybody on board (including the pilot) will potentially be affected, which could cause a crash.  Even uniformed mounties have to remove their OC spray and place it in a sealed box in a cargo area of their small planes, when they fly to remote locations.

Airline safety trumps all.


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## Meridian (10 Sep 2007)

The weird thing is that, while passing through the US recently, they really harped on making sure you took out liquids from your carry-on while in the lineup, but if you didn't do it (I was with colleagues who decided to be dumb),  they didn't raise any fuss at all.    I suppose if the sensors don't go off / they can see it clearly in the baggage from the scans, its ok, but seemed weird to me.    He got pulled to the side for other stuff, and she didn't even mention the lotions and stuff he hadn't taken out.


Also, found it interesting here at YUL that plainclothes were essentially questioning a man and his clearly middle-eastern family in the middle of the hallway in departures, past the security gates....

Ahh airtravel.


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## IrishCanuck (11 Sep 2007)

bllusc said:
			
		

> How about the top notch airport security protecting us and our loves ones being paid by the lowest bidder at minimum wage?
> 
> Organized crime gets things onto planes all the time...human security is still only human and things are going to slip past.
> 
> ...



 What?!?! You don't think CATSA is cutting it?? 











I don't either.


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## Meridian (11 Sep 2007)

IrishCanuck said:
			
		

> What?!?! You don't think CATSA is cutting it??
> 
> 
> I don't either.



Problem is, it isn't CATSA.   CATSA is just the administrative body that writes up the rules.  An old elementary school buddy's dad was Exec Director or DG or whatever the head position is over there... lots of politics IIRC.

In any event, its lowest-bidder contracting.   GARDA here in Montreal.


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## Simon (11 Sep 2007)

old lady in front of me last week had her knitting needles and wool confiscated, they were afraid she would knit an afghan during the flight

sorry ;D


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## George Wallace (11 Sep 2007)

Simon said:
			
		

> old lady in front of me last week had her knitting needles and wool confiscated, they were afraid she would knit an afghan during the flight
> 
> sorry ;D



Interesting.  My sister flew back from Australia.  They confiscated a paper clip that she had in her bag.  Meanwhile, midway across the Pacific, the obnoxious Canadian woman next to her pulls out twelve inch knitting needles and proceeded to knit for the rest of the flight.  Obviously there is no standard for security in many nations.


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## Colin Parkinson (17 Sep 2007)

portcullisguy said:
			
		

> Bear spray on an airplane is a really stupid idea.  Aerosols such as OC and bear spray have been banned from passenger cabins for a long time, long before 9/11 and heightened security.
> 
> The reason is, if the container leaks, then everybody on board (including the pilot) will potentially be affected, which could cause a crash.  Even uniformed mounties have to remove their OC spray and place it in a sealed box in a cargo area of their small planes, when they fly to remote locations.
> 
> Airline safety trumps all.



He didn't intend to bring on, however you can get airtight cannisters to carry them which could be used in the luggage compartment, the purpose of air travel is to get you somewhere, people still have to carry out their tasks when they get there. I think airlines forget that point.


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## medic65726 (17 Sep 2007)

The thing that really galls me is the lack of consistency and thought behind what is permitted on-board and what is not.
A few months ago I had to take a commercial flight home after a Medevac flight as our aircraft had to leave without us (that is a whole other story though).
I as in my Civillian Paramedic Flightsuit, stethoscope around my neck etc with a large backpack full of a wide variety of needles, syringes, controlled drugs, narcotics, and enough sedatives and paralytics to knock out the entire crew for hours. The bag they ran through the x-ray machine and didn't even open it to check out the obviously dangerous contents. The trauma shears (blunt nosed scissors for cutting clothing etc) in my leg pocket however were quite the issue and were going to be confiscated or I couldn't fly.
Makes no sense to me really. At least usually when I fly we deal with our own security issues and there is no problem with me carrying my scissors and survival knife etc.
Just my 2 cents.


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