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TSA To Change Policy Regarding Body Piercings

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Mar 29, 2008 7:00 am US/Central

TSA To Change Policy Regarding Body Piercings

  The Transportation Security Administration says it will change they way its officers search passengers with body piercings after a Texas woman complained she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane.

Mandi Hamlin had demanded an apology and her Los Angeles-based attorney sent a letter to the TSA this week requesting a civil rights investigation.

Hamlin said she was told she would have to remove her nipple piercings after she set off a handheld detector while going through security.

The TSA says officers properly followed procedures, but that the procedures must change. In the future, the agency says passengers can either allow a visual inspection of their piercings, or remove them.

The agency stopped short of apologizing to Hamlin.

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