TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

The forum for general posting. Come join the madness. :)
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 26427
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#1 Post by Bob Juch » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:41 am

The TSA bag screeners at JFK missed seeing three "box cutters" in a passenger's bag. When he put his bag in the overhead compartment of a JetBlue flight they fell out. That caused them to removed all passengers from the plane and rescreen them.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/quee ... MP=OTC-rss

I call those "utility knives", not "box cutters".
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

User avatar
andrewjackson
Posts: 3945
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:33 pm
Location: Planet 10

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#2 Post by andrewjackson » Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:37 pm

Bob Juch wrote:The TSA bag screeners at JFK missed seeing three "box cutters" in a passenger's bag. When he put his bag in the overhead compartment of a JetBlue flight they fell out. That caused them to removed all passengers from the plane and rescreen them.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/quee ... MP=OTC-rss

I call those "utility knives", not "box cutters".
I don't see pictures of what this person had. The picture in the article that you linked shows the tools used in the 9/11 hijackings.

I would calls those a leatherman on the left (yes, a brand name but I use it generically) and a stanley (also generic) or utilty knife on the right.

I know a lot of people that use "boxcutter" for stanley knives and this kind of knife, which is what I would reserve "boxcutter" for:

Image

It is not clear to me which kind was found on this plane.
No matter where you go, there you are.

User avatar
ulysses5019
Purveyor of Avatars
Posts: 19442
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:52 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#3 Post by ulysses5019 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:42 pm

I wonder if lb has a collection of these for work?
I believe in the usefulness of useless information.

User avatar
littlebeast13
Dumbass
Posts: 31103
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:20 pm
Location: Between the Sterilite and the Farberware
Contact:

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#4 Post by littlebeast13 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:48 pm

ulysses5019 wrote:I wonder if lb has a collection of these for work?

I have a bunch of old Mecca box cutters, including one sitting on the desk here, which is my spare for when the button finally pops on my current one....

They only have a passing resemblance to what aj posted, but that's because ours are technically called safety cutters..... not that that's kept me from whacking my fingers and other body parts numerous times....

lb13
Thursday comics! Squirrel pictures! The link to my CafePress store! All kinds of fun stuff!!!!

Visit my Evil Squirrel blog here: http://evilsquirrelsnest.com

User avatar
Estonut
Evil Genius
Posts: 10495
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:16 am
Location: Garden Grove, CA

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#5 Post by Estonut » Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:51 pm

There's something fishy about the guy's story. OK, he uses boxcutters at work. He "forgot" they were in his carry-on. If he used them at work, why would they be in his carry-on in the first place? I suppose he was going to work in the Dominican Republic?
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 26427
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#6 Post by Bob Juch » Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:55 pm

Estonut wrote:There's something fishy about the guy's story. OK, he uses boxcutters at work. He "forgot" they were in his carry-on. If he used them at work, why would they be in his carry-on in the first place? I suppose he was going to work in the Dominican Republic?
I suppose he didn't want to chance the airline losing his tool bag.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

User avatar
Estonut
Evil Genius
Posts: 10495
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:16 am
Location: Garden Grove, CA

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#7 Post by Estonut » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:07 pm

Bob Juch wrote:
Estonut wrote:There's something fishy about the guy's story. OK, he uses boxcutters at work. He "forgot" they were in his carry-on. If he used them at work, why would they be in his carry-on in the first place? I suppose he was going to work in the Dominican Republic?
I suppose he didn't want to chance the airline losing his tool bag.
I don't think it was a tool bag. If so, why bring it along? How would the cutters get through amongst other tools? Are things like screwdrivers, hammers or cutting pliers allowed in carry-on?
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

User avatar
themanintheseersuckersuit
Posts: 7619
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: South Carolina

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#8 Post by themanintheseersuckersuit » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:20 pm

In a post 9/11 world, brandishing a box cutter on a airliner would be a good way to get yourself beaten to a pulp.
Suitguy is not bitter.

feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive

The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.

User avatar
littlebeast13
Dumbass
Posts: 31103
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:20 pm
Location: Between the Sterilite and the Farberware
Contact:

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#9 Post by littlebeast13 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:24 pm

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:In a post 9/11 world, brandishing a box cutter on a airliner would be a good way to get yourself beaten to a pulp.

Someone with many years of Mecca experience would never allow that to happen to themselves.

I'd hope all the onrushers have had their tetanus boosters....

lb13
Thursday comics! Squirrel pictures! The link to my CafePress store! All kinds of fun stuff!!!!

Visit my Evil Squirrel blog here: http://evilsquirrelsnest.com

User avatar
christie1111
11:11
Posts: 11630
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:54 am
Location: CT

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#10 Post by christie1111 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:41 pm

Estonut wrote:
Bob Juch wrote:
Estonut wrote: How would the cutters get through amongst other tools? Are things like screwdrivers, hammers or cutting pliers allowed in carry-on?
The only answer I can think of to answer that is the mass of metal (thickness in this case). They are relatively thin blades. But they should have been picked up. I would think that even single edged razor blades should be picked up on metal detectors at this point.
"A bed without a quilt is like the sky without stars"

User avatar
andrewjackson
Posts: 3945
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:33 pm
Location: Planet 10

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#11 Post by andrewjackson » Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:07 pm

I travel with tools when I'm going to soccer games. I use them to make flags and to hang/cut down banners. I usually have a cordless drill and a couple of different kinds of cutters. I also haul that stuff back forth to home games using some of the same bags. I sort it out and put the tools into a checked bag when I fly but I have made a couple of mistakes before. I lost a pair of sidecutters at the Denver airport security station once because they got left in the wrong bag. Security found them in the scanner and then dug them out of a pocket in my backpack. Just pitched them in the trash since I had already checked my other bag.

Sidecutters:

Image
No matter where you go, there you are.

User avatar
Estonut
Evil Genius
Posts: 10495
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:16 am
Location: Garden Grove, CA

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#12 Post by Estonut » Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:13 pm

I doubt it was a tool bag. Most professional-type tools would have to be checked:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ ... items.shtm
TSA guidelines wrote:

Code: Select all

Tools:

Item                                                                Carry-on   Checked
Axes and Hatchets                                                   No         Yes
Cattle Prods                                                        No         Yes
Crowbars                                                            No         Yes
Hammers                                                             No         Yes
Drills and drill bits (including cordless portable power drills)    No         Yes
Saws (including cordless portable power saws)                       No         Yes
Tools (greater than seven inches in length)                         No         Yes
Tools (seven inches or less in length)                              Yes        Yes
Screwdrivers (seven inches or less in length)                       Yes        Yes
Wrenches and Pliers (seven inches or less in length)                Yes        Yes

NOTE: Any sharp objects in checked baggage should be sheathed or securely wrapped to prevent injury to baggage handlers and Security Officers.
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

User avatar
MarleysGh0st
Posts: 27930
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:55 am
Location: Elsewhere

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#13 Post by MarleysGh0st » Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:29 pm

littlebeast13 wrote:
themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:In a post 9/11 world, brandishing a box cutter on a airliner would be a good way to get yourself beaten to a pulp.

Someone with many years of Mecca experience would never allow that to happen to themselves.

I'd hope all the onrushers have had their tetanus boosters....

lb13
Okay, the discussion doesn't directly mention a box cutter death match, but I think this is the closest we've got on the Bored for today's "Found It."

User avatar
littlebeast13
Dumbass
Posts: 31103
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:20 pm
Location: Between the Sterilite and the Farberware
Contact:

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#14 Post by littlebeast13 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:33 pm

MarleysGh0st wrote:
littlebeast13 wrote:
themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:In a post 9/11 world, brandishing a box cutter on a airliner would be a good way to get yourself beaten to a pulp.

Someone with many years of Mecca experience would never allow that to happen to themselves.

I'd hope all the onrushers have had their tetanus boosters....

lb13
Okay, the discussion doesn't directly mention a box cutter death match, but I think this is the closest we've got on the Bored for today's "Found It."

I drew the death match after I posted that. There technically was no Found It for this one, but this was the inspiring thread.....

lb13
Thursday comics! Squirrel pictures! The link to my CafePress store! All kinds of fun stuff!!!!

Visit my Evil Squirrel blog here: http://evilsquirrelsnest.com

User avatar
ulysses5019
Purveyor of Avatars
Posts: 19442
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:52 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: TSA screeners miss bag with 3 "box cutters"

#15 Post by ulysses5019 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:03 pm

littlebeast13 wrote:
MarleysGh0st wrote:
littlebeast13 wrote:

Someone with many years of Mecca experience would never allow that to happen to themselves.

I'd hope all the onrushers have had their tetanus boosters....

lb13
Okay, the discussion doesn't directly mention a box cutter death match, but I think this is the closest we've got on the Bored for today's "Found It."

I drew the death match after I posted that. There technically was no Found It for this one, but this was the inspiring thread.....

lb13
I just want to know why the two are smiling in the avatar.
I believe in the usefulness of useless information.

Post Reply