Airport Security

[cateyeZ23]

Has anyone heard of the woman who was forced (by Delta Airline security) to drink 3 bottles of her own breast milk that was obviously intended for her child?

A co-worker of mine emailed it to me and I can't remember where this happened. The guards removed the baby from her arms, told her to take off her shoes, scanned her, checked her bags and told her that if she wanted to board the plane she would have to drink all 3 bottles of her own breast milk. She asked them could she feed the babies as they looked on. They refused. The article said that she asked them why were they treating her that way. Their response was, something(explosives) could be in the bottles and she could throw the bottles at the flight attendant.

Now what is this woman suppose to do when her baby gets hungry on the flight? The obvious of course, but will they say you can't breast feed on this flight?


I don't know about yall but I'm all for airport security however, I totally disagree with their methods.

The weekend of Boule I flew to NYC, back home and then to Boule all on connecting flights (except from NYC to RDU) I was so called "randomly" checked on all flights except one. I told one guard (not that she cared) that I was going to take all this "random" checking of me personal. I asked was I the first one chosen, out of about 10 people ahead of me in line and 20 behind me, because of my locks. Of course the response was no, it's random.

That's a lie.IMO I was so tired of getting searched and all these white folks just boarding the plane with no search taking place on them. They are profiling I don't care what they say.

[PrettyKitty]

well I haven't heard about that. But the airline checks are pretty random. When I am flying I usually wait for them to pull someone in the check line and then get in line cause it always takes awhile. I was also told by my employer to wear a suit when I fly...end result...I've never been checked...**knocking on wood**

[FuzzieAlum]

As an airline employee, I'm not always a big fan of the way security companies run the checkpoints. However, I'm pretty certain I would have heard if this were true, and since I haven't heard anything at all ... couldn't find anything on Google or on CNN.com ... I would chalk it up to urban legend.

I don't doubt that security employees allow their personal prejudices to influence whom they search. There are stories about Muslim women being asked to remove their head coverings, for example. And I can easily see an obnoxious guy grabbing an extra feel when he's wanding. I just don't think that this *particular* story is true.

Also, keep in mind that the security lines are NOT staffed by airline employees but by private companies that don't pay much and overwork their employees or (nowadays in some places) by government employees. If this story is true, she may have been on a Delta flight, but the security employees were not Delta, unless she was selected for secondary screening at the gate, in which case they *might* have been.

[FuzzieAlum]

Sorry to crash in here again, but I found this:
http://www.snopes.com/cgi-bin/news/u...?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000001

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I saw that story on the news. She was at JFK Airport boarding a flight to Miami. In order to prove that her bottles of breast milk didn't contain an explosive she had to drink from each one. Apparently this is what passes for security.

cateyeZ23, I feel bad about you being stopped for random security checks. My sister has flown from NYC to various cities in the USA and Europe for business. She is stopped almost every time. I think that it is because she is flying alone. She is 5'2" and tiny so she is no physical threat, but she is treated as one anyway. She didn't mind being stopped and having her bags searched. She did have a problem with being touched. It was humiliating. My mother's friend travelled from NYC to LA and was stopped. This woman is a 70+ year old senior citizen. They made her take off her shoes and bend over and pick them up in order to hand them to the security guard for inspection. She bent over, threw out her back, and spent her entire trip in bed in pain. She was also travelling alone. I think that flying alone might be a red flag for airport security. BTW, these are two white women.

That's a lie.IMO I was so tired of getting searched and all these white folks just boarding the plane with no search taking place on them. They are profiling I don't care what they say.

[librasoul22]

Sigh. I, too, have been "randomly" checked, at the ATL airport. Not only did they run the metal detector over me, they patted me down, made me take off my shoes, and straight RUMMAGED through my bag. I mean they even went through my dirty clothes bag. I was like "Touch those socks at your own risk!" lol. Now this not only happened once, but TWICE. Once at the screening area, and again at the flight gate. Same treatment both times. I didn't think I would mind the extra security, but really that was a bit much. And yeah, it was humiliating. BOTH times. People look at you like oh lord, I hope she isn't on MY flight. Oh well.

[Dovey]

I agree! I tend to fly a lot since I live in KY and go to school here at Alpha chapter and I ALWAYS get "randomly checked".

I think IT IS because of locks and just plain ole skewed perception.. One time I had on a gele (head wrap) and the chick was wanding me over my head and stuff, i was like GET AWAY! One guard had the nerve to put his hands IN my hair! I was too upset. I feel sorry for that woman if the story is true, because it seems that the things that they check for has anything to do with what a terrorist would use in the first place.

DO I feel safe? Kinda. I'd rather that they went back to the full force security with the MP's running around with the M16s and the sniffing dogs, than some guard fingering my hair! *hmph!*

[littlegirlblue]

I could not believe it when I heard it on the news. I do a lot of traveling for my job and I wonder how much does the suit thing work because I would say I am 50/50 on being "randomly checked." I feel you about the dirty clothes....touch it if you want, but you better put it back how you found it. I think they really need to make some guidelines and implement them nationally because now, people are doing as they please. When I flew out of town last week, before boarding the plane, the security agent walked up to the ticket agent and said for me to step over to the side to have my bags checked. Well, I was wearing a suit and was trying to look all grown up, but I think his main reason was to try and get into my business. I had turned off my cell phone, so he takes it out my bag and was like I have to turn it on to make sure it works and to get your phone number if you don't mind. It took the grace of God for me to not explode because he had no real purpose. I kindly told him I am married, even though I am 100% single and waiting for the phine man to come along, and that I don't think my husband would appreciate another man calling his wife. After I said that, he stopped going through my stuff and was like thank you and threw my stuff back in my bag.

---I just had to vent for a second. This airline security stuff is really starting to get next me. Sometimes I see why people ask for a drink when they get on the plane.

[PrettyPetite]

Originally posted by littlegirlblue
I could not believe it when I heard it on the news. I do a lot of traveling for my job and I wonder how much does the suit thing work because I would say I am 50/50 on being "randomly checked." I feel you about the dirty clothes....touch it if you want, but you better put it back how you found it. I think they really need to make some guidelines and implement them nationally because now, people are doing as they please. When I flew out of town last week, before boarding the plane, the security agent walked up to the ticket agent and said for me to step over to the side to have my bags checked. Well, I was wearing a suit and was trying to look all grown up, but I think his main reason was to try and get into my business. I had turned off my cell phone, so he takes it out my bag and was like I have to turn it on to make sure it works and to get your phone number if you don't mind. It took the grace of God for me to not explode because he had no real purpose. I kindly told him I am married, even though I am 100% single and waiting for the phine man to come along, and that I don't think my husband would appreciate another man calling his wife. After I said that, he stopped going through my stuff and was like thank you and threw my stuff back in my bag.

---I just had to vent for a second. This airline security stuff is really starting to get next me. Sometimes I see why people ask for a drink when they get on the plane.

Soror, something like that happened to me. I was flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Detroit this past May, and I got 'randomly selected'. It was all good till the guard had me sitting there for a good 30 minutes. Dude was 'supposedly' asking me random security questions, but I know damn well he was trying to holla. He stared at my ID for the LONGEST time, asked me if that was my real address, turned my cellular on 'to see if it worked yeah right...' and was asking me all these questions about why was I going to Detroit. Then all of a sudden, this female guard comes over and asks if there is a problem, and then he FINALLY says no and lets me go.

Another thing--Ladies, if you are wearing a belt, do they make you unbuckle your belt and take it off, and then they wave the wand around your pants button?? I hate that. That is so borderline, to me. I mean, I'm all for airline security, but sometimes they just take it a bit too far.

*stepping off my soapbox now*

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by PrettyPetite



Soror, something like that happened to me. I was flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Detroit this past May, and I got 'randomly selected'. It was all good till the guard had me sitting there for a good 30 minutes. Dude was 'supposedly' asking me random security questions, but I know damn well he was trying to holla. He stared at my ID for the LONGEST time, asked me if that was my real address, turned my cellular on 'to see if it worked yeah right...' and was asking me all these questions about why was I going to Detroit. Then all of a sudden, this female guard comes over and asks if there is a problem, and then he FINALLY says no and lets me go.

Another thing--Ladies, if you are wearing a belt, do they make you unbuckle your belt and take it off, and then they wave the wand around your pants button?? I hate that. That is so borderline, to me. I mean, I'm all for airline security, but sometimes they just take it a bit too far.

*stepping off my soapbox now*

So I guess security guards are more interested in dating than airline security. That's so wrong!

littlegirlblue, it was a good idea to tell him about your 'husband' not wanting another man to call.

The belt thing is bad, but at least the security guard didn't check if you were wearing an underwire bra! That's what airline security did to my sister. She was shocked.

[FuzzieAlum]

Well ... the cell phone thing is real, believe me. Most bombs are disguised to look like common electronic objects. If they won't turn on, that's a big suspicion that they're not really what they say they are (or that the batteries need to be charged!).

I'm an airline employee, so I've had background checks every which way to Sunday, so it's pretty unlikely I'm a terrorist, and I still am asked to turn on my cell phone most of the time I go through. (And, if it matters, I am white.)

The belt buckle thing is another ... a metal buckle will set the wand off so they make you undo it to make sure you're not using the buckle as an excuse for the thing going off, when in reality you have a bolt cutter or whatever under there. I participated in security tests at one of our airports, and they had me slip a metal thing inside my pants behind the buckle just for that reason. (Luckily, security did catch it.) However, unless you have metal on the rest of the belt, though, there's no good reason to make you take it off - just to undo it.

I can tell you this: When they wand you or do extra screening, they are supposed to ask your permission before they touch any part of your body, and that includes sticking their hands in your hair. (What kind of weapon could you hide in you hair, anyway?) If anything like that ever happens to you, ask to speak to the manager. If he/she doesn't resolve it, ask to talk to the airline's (not the security company's) Ground Security Coordinator. There should be one on premises, frequently very near to the security checkpoint. They might have a different title, but essentially they are the liasion between the airline and the security company. If it's the airline doing secondary screening at the gate, do the same thing.

And if you don't get any satisfaction, write their customer service department a polite, firm but upset letter. While the airlines are no longer in charge of the security firms, they don't like to have pissed-off customers, and they will speak to the security company next time they meet together.

Yes, a lot of these things are invasive, and no, not every security employee (or airline employee) is fair and objective. BUT I urge you to complain to the people who can do something about it. Airline security is messed up now, incompetent at times, overzealous at others, and too many different companies and agencies have their hands in it. If it's just a pain in the rear, though, remember why we're doing it - so no other terrorists attack us in the air again. If it's inappropriate, on the other hand, you have a complete right to speak up and let your dissatisfaction be known.

[cateyeZ23]

Thank you for confirming the email I was sent. Someone mentioned that it was probably and Urban Legend and another said they hadn't heard of that and they work at the airline. (For a minute I thought perhaps it was an "Urban Legend").

I too worked for an airline up until the terrorist attacks and I know for a fact that airlines profile passengers. Whether people would like to admit it or not- it happens. If your name is foreign your profiled, if you have a certain attire your profiled. Maybe not all airlines but enough profile.

For those who wear suits and aren't randomly checked more power to you. However, I know two very successful black men who went to board the plane wearing suits (no locks or full beards, rather clean cut) and they were checked. They too felt it was humilitaing. And this was before the terrorist attacks so I know it happens. A suit is not a "random check" waiver.

[FuzzieAlum]

Well, airlines ADMIT they profile, so that's not all that radical a stance to take!

Now what they look for ... that's a more debatable question. I know some of it (and I can assure you those things I know about 100% have nothing to do with race- they're things like *pretend example* "they bought their ticket on Tuesday"), but I don't know everything. (If I did know, I wouldn't be allowed to say anyway.) And I do know employees have the power to make subjective decisions. I know I got selected one time because I pissed off one of our ticket agents! Race can certainly factor into the subjective decisions employees make. So, yeah, unfortunately, an employee might perceive a black passenger to be more of a risk.

However, I gotta say, while I bet some employees are more likely to pick out African Americans for extra security, I think that's stupid. After all, the Sept. 11 terrorists were not African Americans. And aside from those attacks, most of the incidents with unruly/violent passengers I can think of involve white folks.

[Shelacious]

I used to travel a lot all over the country before 9/11, and was never randomly checked by security. After 9/11, I have traveled about three/four times (Las Vegas, Conneticut/Mass, New Orleans, Clevland, Newark) and I was asked ONCE to take off my shoes (was wearing a pair of boots with zippers on them. Learned my lesson and never wore those to the airport again). I have not yet been randomly searched at the gate itself though.

What I've noticed most about airport security is its inconsistency--sometimes I'm asked to take out my laptop and turn it on, sometimes just to put it, and all my cords, on the conveyer belt. Sometimes my metals make the wand go off, usually they don't. Sometimes they search my entire purse to find my metal tin of Altoids, and other times the same tin sets off nary a beep. The mother's milk issue is just another example of a lack of standards (or common sense). This inconsistentcy does raise some concern for me.

On profiling--I don't know about most folks, but it's usually black folks (followed by Asian) in security roles whenever I travel, so to profile "black folks" by black folks is a bit odd, although I suppose they could have been instructed by their employers to do so. I have noticed that Muslim, Arab, Arabic, Jewish, Eastern Indian, Southeast Asian men and women are more likely to be on the side of the security checkpoint getting a "random."