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70 Laptops Got Left Behind At An Airport Security Checkpoint In One Month (bravotv.com)
America's Transportation Security Administration has been making some surprising announcements on social media. An anonymous reader writes:
A TSA spokesperson says 70 laptops were left behind in just one month at an airport security checkpoint in Newark. "And yes, there are plenty of shiny MacBooks in that pile," reported BravoTV, "which can cost in the $2,000 range new." The TSA shared an image of the 70 laptops on their Instagram page and on Twitter, prompting at least one mobile project designer to reclaim his laptop. "The most common way laptops are forgotten is when traveler's stack a bin on top of the bin their laptop is in," the TSA warns. "Out of sight out of mind."
The TSA is also sharing pictures on social media of the 70 guns they confiscated at security checkpoints in one week in November, reporting they've also confiscated a blowtorch, batarangs, and a replica of that baseball bat from "The Walking Dead". They're reporting they found 33 loaded firearms in carry-on luggage in one week, and remind readers that gun-carrying passengers "can face a penalty as high as $11,000. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home."
The TSA is also sharing pictures on social media of the 70 guns they confiscated at security checkpoints in one week in November, reporting they've also confiscated a blowtorch, batarangs, and a replica of that baseball bat from "The Walking Dead". They're reporting they found 33 loaded firearms in carry-on luggage in one week, and remind readers that gun-carrying passengers "can face a penalty as high as $11,000. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home."
I am sure it's all the passengers fault. Not people desperately trying to get to their flight after a long delay waiting for their turn at a bit of ineffective security theatre..
Of course this would be solved by not requiring them to remove their laptops.. Something which would have next to no effect on the uselessness of their scanning anyway..
But no.. It's all the travelers fault. Silly travelers.. They deserve to have their items removed.
Of course it should be quite trivial door then to track down the owners right? TSA is so proud of how well informed they are about the travelers.. Surely they can localise the owners of one of a handful of people? No?
But the flight is probably more enjoyable if you remember the laptop but forget the child.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I don't trust the carry on luggage with the laptop. My backpack has a "checkpoint friendly" part, where I can just bisect the bag and have the laptop available for their X-Ray devices. But you should absolutely put the little tray with your shoes in front (along with any belt), followed by anything else you can justify putting into a little tray, followed by your actual carry-on item. This way, you'll at least get your shoes while the decide to screen the living shit out of your carry on bags.
The whole thing is fucking awful. The fact that they will sell you a special line where they check almost nothing proves that it's a scam.
But I have a hard time understanding how anybody could forget their laptop at a TSA checkpoint.
A lot of people experience anxiety and distraction when they're going through the security line. You're being led around like cattle and are subject to a bunch of random rules that could result in a pain and a bunch of delays (maybe worse) if you aren't careful to pay attention. Doing an extra check to make sure you have everything may not always be at the top of your list.
Just a few ways that immediately come to mind:
(1) You're getting on a 6am flight, so you're going through security at 5am and haven't had a cup of coffee yet because the TSA won't allow you to carry one. So you're just in a "haze."
(2) You have small children or are accompanying a person who can't take care of their own stuff for some reason, so you're juggling a huge number of bins and bags and trying not to forget anything, while also trying not to hold up the line.
(3) The TSA personnel distract you with some bogus extra search procedure that makes you feel uncomfortable... or they are overly brusque with you, which makes you a little paranoid (because they have the power to detain you). So you're distracted by this other stuff -- in ADDITION to having to deal with the indignities of putting back on your belt, shoes, packing up you little "baggie of liquids," etc. while people are crowding around trying to do the same.
Lots of other scenarios. I had a good friend (not at all an idiot or scatter-brained) who forgot his once, but luckily realized it when he got to his gate and went to do some work. He came back and retrieved it in time. I had another acquaintance who lost his and did NOT recover it.
I actually ended up adopting my own crude "reminder procedure" after hearing about these -- I commonly carry my laptop in some sort of sleeve in my bag anyway. I used to just reach in my bag and grab the laptop to put in the separate bin. Now I take the sleeve out of the bag and put it in the bin with my laptop bag (but outside of it), and my laptop obviously in a separate bin. I obviously will need to deal with the sleeve before I depart the TSA area. Just in case I'm distracted, I think there's a much lower chance that I'll just unthinkingly place my empty laptop sleeve back into my bag without realizing my laptop's missing. I doubt I'd forget my laptop, but I know how often it happens, so a little extra precaution doesn't hurt.
Actually, this article is much ado about virtually nothing.
According to this page there were 35 million passengers through Liberty International Airport in 2014. That's about 3 million / month. 70 laptops in that pile of people is less than a tenth of a percent. Lots less.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Nobody would steal anything from a security checkpoint. Every single person in that area is identifiable from their boarding passes, long with the face recognition tracking systems that a lot (sure, not the smaller ones) of airports are using now. In addition to being identifiable you are also completely traceable, and, have no where to go: security staff can just find you sitting in your seat on your next flight.
So no, any sane person would keep their hands to themselves.
However, if 70 people are leaving their laptops behind then I am sure many others are taking the wrong bags and/or gear by accident.
Maybe this is a dodge to dispose of an old laptop you want to get rid of without paying a fee to recycle it?
I'm always careful to grab mine, but with all the bullshit rules these days I have FOUR FUCKING BINS plus my bag to take through TSA.
It's complete fucking security theater. Stop requiring removal of all these devices that just slow down lines and lead to lost items. It's all bullshit.
If you travel much, pay the money ($100) and go through the process of getting your Global Entry card, which also gives you TSA Pre-check. It's well worth it for the hassle it saves. For a little less ($85) you can sign up for TSA Pre only, but if you ever leave the country the $15 extra for Global Entry will make re-entering the US much easier. I recommend Global Entry even if you just think you *might* travel internationally.
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I think the fact that they are actually catching a lot of stuff ... you know, the point of TFA ... proves the screening worthwhile. And they don't "sell" you a special line. You pay for the process of being vetted, and then they do minimal screening after that. It's kinda like getting the Sentry Pass at the border.
If it was about that, then they'd open those lines to anyone who had been vetted by the government already. They don't. The lines are open for those who pay.
Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I use the TSA PreCheck program, which I paid for, but am not a US government employee with a security clearance). But I believe that if you've already been vetted by the US government in terms of a security clearance or a DoD ID then you don't need to pay for PreCheck, you can just use those lanes automatically. And the average US civilian/military security clearance investigation costs upwards of $50K.
Not to sound like a PreCheck fanboy, but if you fly more than a few times a year it is absolutely in your best interest to pay for PreCheck. Basically they look (from what I understand) to see if you're a felon, are on a no-fly watchlist, and/or have firearms related offenses or "I freaked out in the airport when they frisked me" issues. They take your fingerprints, too.
If you don't have any concerns with the above, then the $85 that PreCheck costs (for a five year term) is amortized over the cost of your time waiting in lines over five years in airport lines. I can't speak for every airport, but in Seattle the time differential between PreCheck and general boarding is often 45 minutes of waiting or more, as well as not having to take off my shoes, not having to take my laptop out of my bag, and generally being treated more like a human being than a Gitmo detainee.
You can make a cogent argument that none of the above is necessary and that it's all Security Theater. But you can't say that PreCheck is something for the one percenters when it averages out to $17/year. If you fly more than a couple times a year - and you value your time - then it's a no-brainer.
Do I believe that the government should prefer a "safe by default" rather than a "safe by exception" profile for its citizens? Yes, absolutely. There's no reason that an 85-year-old grandmother from Minnesota in a wheelchair should face a pat-down and the same security precautions as a 23-year-old Syrian national. I've flown to Israel multiple times (on El Al) and their security precautions (while undoubtedly invasive to anyone) are tailored to the perceived "risk profiles" of the passengers.The US should absolutely tailor its security procedures to risk profiles.
But the TL;DR version is that US security screening, for all its faults, isn't based on who can pay. It's based on an assumption (however faulty) that everyone is a potential terrorist, and that those who fly a lot can make an effort to show that they are less of a risk - at a very low cost when averaged over how often they fly.
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Going through security, I forgot my laptop only to find out in the plane at cruising. I immediately informed the attendant who contacted ground. A person was then sent to the TSA lost&found to pick it up with my name. The funny parts: I had a sticker on my notebook with all my details, including phone no. It was never used. Instead, when picking it up they only opened the lid to see the login name on the lock screen (only my first name), and the combination of laptop description was then used to give the laptop to the airline guy. For me to actually get it back, I had to contact and find the guy on Facebook (only had a name and non-working telno from TSA) no less ! But, I got it back :) And I guess TSA did something good, like not allowing a stranger to sticker my laptop with their details.
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Any frequent traveler like myself will tell you you're playing with fire leaving valuables like a laptop in a checked bag. Checked bags are lost ALL THE TIME, stolen from all the time, and damaged even more. If you're lucky, your travel insurance may throw you a bone for the value of the laptop but they won't be able to replace the value of what's on it. I won't even get into how disruptive it will be to your business trip or vacation to have a missing laptop.
Rule #1, avoid checking luggage at all costs. Rule #2, if you are forced to check, don't put anything in there except clothing, sundries, and other things of little value.
I "left" my laptop at a checkpoint in Dallas. I had to put my bags through the scanner and then was held up for a manual check. While I was waiting I was trying to keep an eye on my bags so noone nicked them but I was on the wrong side of the body scanner so couldn't see them.
By the time I'd gotten through - probably 4-5 minutes of waiting - the tray with my laptop was gone. I have since realised that it was probably because the tray was a grey metal colour, almost identical to that of my laptop, the tray was just seen as empty by a TSA employee and stacked with others.
I was, of course, upset. The TSA kept me waiting completely uninterested in my loss, before finally deciding to help me look through a pile of them. It wasn't found and then I had to go get my flight. I tried to log a report with them and basically just got given a phone number (written on a scrap of paper) - there is obviously no good system to manage this process.
After a few days of basically I was referred to the DWF Traveller's Aid people; eventually I got a call from someone from the TSA saying it was found. The Traveller's Aid were awesome about packing it up securely and sending it to me via courier at a pretty respectable price.
I'm sure a lot of people forget it because they get through security and simply forgot they put it down. I've walked away from security leaving an entire bag there once and remembering only a few minutes later.
I should note: this was by /far/ my worst TSA experience at a checkpoint. I flew a lot in the US in the last two years and I always opted out (unless I was running late). Every time I got extremely courteous and professional responses from the staff.