TSA on the watch

Did you see Cal Thomas' syndicated column this morning about the watch list?
Worse than Keystone cops. If they keep it up, you won't need to worry about
O2 generators because you won't have any passengers.

Sure, you can say they are being super careful to hold up people like Ted
Kennedy and Cal Thomas but the smoke and confusion of that many false
positives is going to make it way easier for real bad guys to slip through.
Of course, nobody's really watching. They're all sitting there dreaming
about the next big taxpayer funded party.

--

Roger Long



"Capt.Doug" wrote in message
...
"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
And one of them got a Life Time Achievement award even though the TSA
has
only been in existence for two years.

While they are partying and back-slapping with taxpayer's money, I spent
this morning filling out an incident report about TSA inspectors who
missed
an oxygen generator that ended up in the baggage compartment of my MD-80.

D.

"Morgans" wrote in message Were there a case of them, or just one?

Just one, and it was contained in a medical device labeled 'Oxygen
Concentrator, Class 2'. Most people would have missed it. I know about it
because I teach hazmat. The device was hot to the touch on the side
indicating it had activated. Speaking with some TSA inspectors later in the
day revealed that their hazmat training is *somewhat* deficient.

Are MD-80's equipped with fire detection in the baggage compartment now,
or did that proposal fall through?

All passenger MD-80s have a fire detection and fire suppression system
installed in the cargo holds, as required by regs. The ones I fly are based
on Halon. Additionally, the cargo holds were modified to the next higher
class of containment.

D.

"Morgans" wrote
Were there a case of them, or just one?

Doug wrote

Just one, and it was contained in a medical device labeled 'Oxygen
Concentrator, Class 2'. Most people would have missed it. I know about it
because I teach hazmat. The device was hot to the touch on the side
indicating it had activated. Speaking with some TSA inspectors later in
the
day revealed that their hazmat training is *somewhat* deficient.


Should have been safe, if missed, no? Not a plethera to cook off together,
in an uncontained manner?


Are MD-80's equipped with fire detection in the baggage compartment
now, or did that proposal fall through?


All passenger MD-80s have a fire detection and fire suppression system
installed in the cargo holds, as required by regs. The ones I fly are
based
on Halon. Additionally, the cargo holds were modified to the next higher
class of containment.


Are all U.S. carriers now up to these regs?

Thanks for your alertness. Keep up the good work, and may everyone else out
there do their part.
--
Jim in NC


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"Morgans" wrote in message
Should have been safe, if missed, no? Not a plethera to cook off
together,
in an uncontained manner?

It likely would have been safe. In fact, my 135 certificate allows for
carriage of oxygen generators on passenger planes if they are in an approved
medical device like the one I found. However, most airlines don't allow it.
If the airline did allow it, the PIC should have been notified of the hazmat
and it should have been labeled, packaged, and secured as such. TSA didn't
flag it. They let it get thrown in with the rest of the baggage.

Last week, I had another hazmat problem albeit not TSA's fault. The baggage
handlers put an electric wheelchair in the forward cargo compartment. It
wasn't a problem until they laid it on it's side without securing the
lead-acid batteries. The batteries fell out. There was a leak-proof battery
box with a diamond shaped hazmat sticker provided by the airline next to the
wheelchair. It contained a battery charger. I just shook my head and cursed
the stupidity of the world.

Are all U.S. carriers now up to these regs?

For passengers, yes. The cargo guys have detection, but I'm not sure where
they stand with suppression..

D.