8/16/2006

Almost like a sick joke on all of us

According to this article in today's Washington Post, a plane from Britain to Dulles was diverted to Logan Intl. in Boston due to a claustrophobic woman going a tad nutso in the cabin.

According to the story (bold added by me for emphasis), "Her behavior was reported to the pilot, who diverted the plane to Boston. The woman did not have a screwdriver, the officials said, but she did have matches of a type that are allowed on flights. She also had hand cream, which should not have made it through security at Heathrow under the new rules formulated last week."

Come again? Certainly it did not just say that you could bring FREAKING MATCHES onto a plane, but hand cream was verboten?

Certainly the Post made an error here, right? Nope. According to the Transportation Security Administration Web site, "You may not bring matches in your checked baggage because of safety regulations. You may, however, bring up to four books of safety (non-strike anywhere) matches in your carry-on baggage or on your person. For safety reasons, you may not bring “strike anywhere” matches at all."

Oh, and incidentally, my swiss army knife with a 2 1/2" blade? Not allowed. Metal, sharp-pointed scissors with a 4" blade? Allowed. Does this make sense to anyone???

This just goes to show how much of a farce this whole airline security show really is. Unreal.