Oct 9, 2008 7:56 pm US/Central
Passengers Report Cases Of Security Going Too Far
BOSTON (CBS) ―
Passengers having to take off their shoes and not traveling with large bottles of liquids are two examples of how air travel has changed in our post 9/11 world. But now some travelers are wondering if security officials are going too far when it comes to enforcing some other safety measures.
Surveillance video shows what happened when Robin Kassner got into an argument with a TSA agent. She says she was thrown to the floor.
"I kept begging them over and over again, 'Get off of me, get off of me,'" she said.
Her case is now in court.
That is an extreme case for sure, but more travelers are reporting cases in which they think security officials were over the top. Take for example an elderly man confined to a wheelchair. An undercover camera shows him being thoroughly patted down and then having his hands swabbed.
Robert Perry found his recent experience at the airport humiliating. He had a problem when his artificial knee set off a metal detector.
He says a security guard caused his pants to fall down around his ankles while he was standing in public view. Asking to see the supervisor only made things worse.
"She was yelling at me, 'I have power, I have power, I have power!'"
T.S.A policy mandates that when a metal detector goes off, an agent must resolve what caused the alarm.
Michael Angone lost a leg to cancer as a young girl. Her prosthetic leg often sets the alarms off when she flies. As a singer, she travels frequently for concerts. She says she always tells agents her leg could set off the metal detector, but it doesn't always help. "I've had to completely take my pants off and show them, like my entire leg."
Robert Siciliano is a Boston area security expert who says that, at times, airport security personnel can take their jobs a little too seriously. He is quick to add, however, that passengers have to be sensitive to the need for tight security.
"The problem with body piercings or prosthetic devices that are metal or having metal plates in any part of your body is that they are unseen by security professionals, by the TSA, and that same piercing could also be a weapon."
That doesn't satisfy Michael's father. "The key word here is reasonable, and they have gone off track. They are not reasonable."
The TSA in Boston says that customer services is important, but make no mistake, safety is the top priority. Nationally, there have been more than two billion passenger boardings since 9/11, and about 110,000 complaints.
Clear confusion about TSA policies
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Obama Addresses Nation Following Health Vote 54 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments