Tales from airport security

Pilot's Missing Laptop Causes Airport Security Scare

A pilot's laptop, filled with top secret security information was reported missing at Dulles Airport and the ripple effects were felt across the country.
The Mesa Airlines employee couldn't find the personal laptop he brought with him while co-piloting a United Express flight from Birmingham, Alabama to Dulles International Airport.
17 airports were forced to make emergency changes to access codes at Dulles, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago's O'Hare and San Antonio.
Various officials within the airline industry admit that with these access codes, someone who went though security could, with the touch of a few buttons, get onto a plane or get outside, right below a plane.
A TSA spokesperson said, "On April 17, Mesa Airlines notified TSA that an employee reported a laptop, containing confidential information, had been misplaced, lost or stolen."
Federal and airline officials admitted that the classified codes on the computer provided the pilot, through a keypad, access from the gate to the plane and down to ground level right below the plane.

Passengers were appalled. "That's just a major security breach for everyone that flies within the United States."

One airline insider tells ABC 7 News the laptop was probably stored in an overhead compartment used by passengers and likely stolen.

Federal officials quickly contacted 17 U.S. airports used by the pilot, warning them of the security breach. Media representatives for a number of those airports affected, including Dulles, Phoenix and Akron-Canton said the codes were promptly changed. ABC 7 News learned one security official at a midwest airport rushed to work in the middle of the night to prevent a breach.

A Mesa Airlines spokesperson said, "Any breach of aviation security is of primary concern to Mesa Airlines and we are fully cooperating with the TSA."

Meanwhile, a TSA official said the agency, "may look at increasing the standards for anyone who stores this type of information on their computers."

Airline officials said they have very little to go on because they don't know if the pilot was targeted or if it was a crime of opportunity. A spokesperson for Dulles said airport police are investigating.

Religion of Peace of Update

. . . someone else had this story under the category of "not ready for civilization"! I guess there weren't any carpets or camels available for long distance travel.

Sheikh delays plane over seating

Fri Jul 27, 2:15 PM ET

MILAN (Reuters) - A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan's Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.

When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said.

But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane.

The London-bound flight took off nearly three hours behind schedule Thursday evening and around 50 of the 115 passengers missed connecting flights.

Traditions in the conservative Gulf Arab region bar women from mixing with unrelated men.

I'm baaaaaack

Randy sniffer dogs get the sack

Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:38AM EDT

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two Thai street mutts who became ace sniffer dogs at an airport near the notorious "Golden Triangle" opium-producing region have been fired for urinating on luggage and sexually harassing female passengers.

The pair, Mok and Lai, had been plucked from obscurity under a program initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej to turn strays into police dogs, the Bangkok Post said on Sunday.

Although they won plaudits from police for their work in sniffing out drugs at northern Thailand's Chiang Rai airport, near the border with Laos and Myanmar, so many passengers complained about their behavior they had to be fired.

"He liked to pee on luggage while searching for drugs inside," Mok's former handler, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jakapop Kamhon, said. "He also liked to hold on to women's legs."

How to know if you shouldn't board a flight

Doesn't TSA do any COMMON SENSE screening?!?

"Doctors deliver baby on Delta flight

By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO, Associated Press WriterFri May 25, 7:09 PM ET

Two doctors on a Delta Air Lines flight from Germany delivered a baby in the aisle of the plane and resuscitated him when he wasn't breathing, officials said.

Delta Flight 131 to Atlanta was over the Washington area when a woman about 32 to 36 weeks — or nine months — pregnant went into labor Wednesday afternoon, prompting an emergency stop in Charlotte, N.C., about nine hours into the flight.

Though the baby boy wasn't breathing when he was born, he was 'like a normal newborn' by Friday, one of the doctors who helped deliver him said.

The baby was born in front of the first seats after first class, one of the roomiest aisles in a plane. Using a stethoscope that was part of medical equipment onboard, the doctors realized the baby had a very slow or arrested heartbeat as the woman was in labor."

Doctors deliver baby on Delta flight

Silver threads in underwear!

Maybe this guy ought not put his phone on 'vibrate!'

"If you thought donning tin foil caps was excessive, Isabodywear is out to make those contraptions looks mighty mild. While the debate about just how dangerous (or not) cellphone radiation is still rages on, there's certainly a paranoid sect that will snap up anything that claims to 'protect them,' and this Swiss garb maker is latching onto said opportunity. The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect. Reportedly, 4,000 pairs have been created so far, and for folks willing to give these a try and fill out a survey, the first 500 of you to email in and request one will seemingly have one sent out gratis. There's no word on when you can expect the Slipways to hit the market, but they should sell for CHF29.90 ($24) apiece when retailers start stocking."
Isabodywear underwear fends off cellphone radiation - Engadget

Are they checking for internals

Amsterdam airport's new 'X-ray' security scan reveals all

Posted: 16 May 2007 1121 hrs

	An image on a security scan at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

AMSTERDAM - Amsterdam's Schiphol airport Tuesday introduced a new security scan that sees through clothes, the first airport in the world to use the system, officials said.

The scan outlines body contours, making it easy for security personnel to see if anyone is carrying weapons or smuggling money or drugs.

Airport authorities said the scan was quicker and better than body searches.

To ensure privacy, the images from the scan are analysed by a security attendant in a separate room. The face of the person is also blurred to avoid recognition.

Schiphol put two such scanning machines into operation Tuesday and another 15 are set to follow. For the present, passengers can choose between the body scan or regular controls, which sometimes include being frisked. - AFP/ra

Do implants show up on this?

TSA loses hard drive with personal info

TSA loses hard drive with personal info - Yahoo! News

Now isn't that special !!!!!