Friday, September 7, 2012

TSA Week in Review: Knife Discovered With Body Scanner


Knife Discovered With Body Scanner – Using the body scanner, Officers detected a knife concealed in the groin area of a Los Angeles (LAX) passenger. The Los Angeles World Airport Policearrested him on a state charge.


Seal Bombs – Two seal bombs were discovered in the carry-on bag of a 12-year-old passenger traveling with his father at Seattle (SEA). A seal bomb is a small explosive device that resembles a large firecracker.

Items in the Strangest Places –It’s important to check your bags prior to traveling. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag, you could be cited and possibly arrested by law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were found in strange places.

  • A 3-inch knife was detected inside a passenger’s shoe at Fresno (FAT).
  • A 12” cane sword was discovered at Los Angeles (LAX).

Inert Grenades Etc. – We continue to find hand grenades and other weaponry on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if something looks like a bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these items are found at a checkpoint, they can cause significant delays. I know they are cool novelty items, but it is best not to take them on a plane. Read here and here on why inert items cause problems.

  • An inert grenade was divested into a screening bin by a passenger at Seattle (SEA).
  • An inert grenade was discovered in the carry-on bag of an 11-year-old passenger at Baltimore (BWI).
  • A grenade belt buckle was discovered at Columbus (CMH). If you were looking at the item outside of the X-ray, it would obviously be a belt buckle, but on the X-ray screen, it looked like the real deal.
  • An inert grenade was discovered in a carry-on bag in Huntsville (HSV).

Stun Guns –7stun guns were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints around the nation: Nashville (BNA), Salt Lake City (SLC), Atlantic City (ACY), San Francisco (SFO), Jacksonville (JAX), Minneapolis (MSP), and Kansas City (MCI)
Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, Airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things. Just to mention a few…

Firearms - Here are the firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.






You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

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The TSA Blog: TSA Week in Review: Knife Discovered With Body Scanner