Extra security at airports

[Minniesgal]

The new restrictions relate to hand luggage only at the moment.

Not according to the Daily Mail yesterday who had an article who said hold electronics were subject to the same restrictions as were any duty free purchases made at the airport.

 

[jennie3675]

Just read through the thread to see what the political/religious discussion was about but fail to see it?!! All I see is people politely voicing their take on things. I really do struggle to see why this is a problem?

 

[torsie24]

Just read through the thread to see what the political/religious discussion was about but fail to see it?!! All I see is people politely voicing their take on things. I really do struggle to see why this is a problem?

There's clearly one post you missed then....

 

[Elise79]

No they do not. There was an article in the mail yesterday which clearly stated hold luggage was subject to the same restrictions.

Well there isn't! I have just checked in with BA and we had nothing about electronics in the hold - just the usual dangerous goods.

 

[chmurf]

Just read through the thread to see what the political/religious discussion was about but fail to see it?!! All I see is people politely voicing their take on things. I really do struggle to see why this is a problem?

There was none. All that Wilma-bride was warning us about is the high potential of this thread for turning into a religious/political debate/flame.

She did not post that reminder to put out a fire/flame, but only to tell us "don't play with those matches". There are already enough matches and firewood on other parts of the DIS, I'm glad we have her as our very own smokey-bear (sorry for the image )

 

[wilma-bride]

There was none. All that Wilma-bride was warning us about is the high potential of this thread for turning into a religious/political debate/flame.

She did not post that reminder to put out a fire/flame, but only to tell us "don't play with those matches". There are already enough matches and firewood on other parts of the DIS, I'm glad we have her as our very own smokey-bear (sorry for the image )

I don't know who smokey bear is but I'm hoping that was meant as a compliment

Thank you chmurf - I am glad that you managed to correctly interpret what I was saying

 

[The Eighth Dwarf]

I'm flying indirect, Belfast to. Newark then Newark down to MCO.
I can't find anything about what happens in Newark, do we have to show them again? Could be a pain if our connecting flight is delayed.
So does anyone know if this applies to internal domestic flights as well.

 

[chmurf]

I don't know who smokey bear is but I'm hoping that was meant as a compliment

Smokey bear is the mascot for the US National Forest Service, and has been warning guests about forest fires since 1944.

you can see him by the side of the road at US national forests next to the sign warning about forest fire risks for the day

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Back on topic now, i asked VA a question
"Not been able to find information but if we put any electronic gadgets in our suitcases will they go through the same on/off testing as our hand luggage? What's best to do carry then with us or put them in our cases? TIA x"
Answer
Simple answer is that we would always advise passengers to carry electrical items in their hand baggage
Howard
Doesn't quite answer my initial question of "Will electronics be tested which are in suitcases"!

 

[chmurf]

Doesn't quite answer my initial question of "Will electronics be tested which are in suitcases"!

I think the conclusion we can draw is that they don't have the slightest idea yet
The airline is not in charge of the security checks for checked luggage.
Security agencies at airports might not even be up to speed with the new regulations yet. So airlines will still lag behind for a couple of weeks/months.

What we'll need to monitor from now on, are the first hand reports of people who travel

I don't trust airlines or TAs to give accurate information anyway (a US Airways even insisted that we were not required to collect our bags at CLT before continuing onward to Orlando ...)

 

[Elise79]

I can tell you yesterday that we travelled on BA out of LGW.

Security was no different to previous. There was no questions regarding electronics in the hold (DH put a camera in there and yes we are well aware of the risks) and hand luggage scanning was as normal.

I think if you were picked for the extra check then you would have to prove you could turn on anything in your hand luggage.

 

[BlueGiraffe]

I can tell you yesterday that we travelled on BA out of LGW. Security was no different to previous. There was no questions regarding electronics in the hold (DH put a camera in there and yes we are well aware of the risks) and hand luggage scanning was as normal. I think if you were picked for the extra check then you would have to prove you could turn on anything in your hand luggage.

That's good to know. With regards to electronics in a checked suitcase, and please correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the whole point of having to prove your gadget worked is to show that it's an ordinary working electronic device that you are taking on board for your own entertainment during the flight. Anything in your suitcase will be switched off, and out of your reach, so wouldn't be a threat anyway... The same as there are other items you can check into your suitcase (knives, cigarette lighters, etc.) but can't take them in your hand luggage.

I imagine airlines are likely to advise that passengers take their electronic items in their hand luggage as they don't want to be sued when things go missing, for telling people to store them in their suitcase. The same thing would happen if staff started switching on devices that were in suitcases. There would be all sorts of claims that things had been deleted or broken.

 

[BlueGiraffe]

I can tell you yesterday that we travelled on BA out of LGW.

Was that to MCO...? (Jealous, if so!)

 

[chmurf]

I thought the whole point of having to prove your gadget worked is to show that it's an ordinary working electronic device that you are taking on board for your own entertainment during the flight. Anything in your suitcase will be switched off, and out of your reach, so wouldn't be a threat anyway... The same as there are other items you can check into your suitcase (knives, cigarette lighters, etc.) but can't take them in your hand luggage.

It's not the same as knives. You have to wield a knife for it to become a weapon.
There are many ways to trigger an explosive device, and very few of them require direct human interaction.

We all remember Lockerbie. The Pan Am 103 (a boeing 747) was brought down by a bomb hidden in a Toshiba radio cassette player stowed in a Samsonite suitcase checked in the hold

No human action to trigger that bomb.

The electronic devices are composed of electronic parts incased in a shell.

The new security measures are designed to check if the devices brought onboard are really what they look like, or if they are just a "shell" containing something else. Just like the Lockerbie cassette player used to look like a cassette player but probably would have failed the "power on" check. (not entirely true since at that time, electronic devices were merely "empty" and had a lot of free space inside)
Today electronics are fitted as tight as possible, which also means less wiring and less visual cues (on x-ray) to detect a non standard device.

The security officers used to be able to quiclky identify a threat, e.g. battery + wiring + suspect plastic mass ( not going into more detail, this much is explained in old offical documentaries about airline security)

Now there is less and less wiring, and it seems the explosives are more and more diffucult to detect.

So basically, security needs to make sure that an ipad is really an ipad (singling that one out)

What happens with checked luggage ?
You can't really tell if a device is in sleep mode or if it's turned off. Just like your alarm clock (even as an app on your tablet) will have a silent timer running in the background, and wake the device up once it's time.

So if they don't check devices in the hold, there is no way of telling if
1 - the device is fully turned off
2 - the device cannot be turned on remotely, or self activated.
3 - the device really is what it pretends to be.

not checking the devices in checked luggage would defeat, at least half of the point of having new checks at the security checkpoints.

bottomline, checking carry ons only would be like securing the door with several locks but leaving the window open. (I'm not saying it's useless to secure the door, I'm saying that it would be nonsense not to secure the windows as well.)

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

It seems that someone was arrested last week. Understandably not many details. From what I've heard from a couple of friends going to USA, things at security seemed pretty much the same! http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2014-07-11/terror-arrest-at-manchester-airport/

It seems he appeared at Westminster Magistrates court yesterday (11thJuly)

 

[BlueGiraffe]

We are planning on taking (for a family of 4): 2 tablets, 2 smartphones, a Kindle, a netbook, and 3 cameras.

When we heard about the extra checks, we discussed just taking what we needed for the flight in our hand luggage (ie, the tablets, phones and Kindle) and putting the rest in our suitcase - we didn't want to hold ourselves, or anyone else, up longer than necessary.

Would you recommend we keep it all with us?

Also, we're taking our own satnav, which doesn't hold a charge and needs to be plugged into the cigarette lighter. This was going to travel in the suitcase as we won't need it until a few days after we get there...

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

I asked VA the question ( posted on this thread) and they advised to carry electronics with you

 

[chmurf]

Would you recommend we keep it all with us?

rule #1 of safe travel : If it has any kind of value, keep it with you.

It's just like money, you won't put it in checked luggage. You don't even want to put it in a hand luggage or purse as those can be too easily stolen (some people get their purse stolen from their luggage cart and only notice 10 minutes later when they're ready to board the plane and collect their belongings from the cart). Keep money ON you, and electronics in the carry on. If it takes longer for security, then so be it. You'll have plenty of time to kill after security anyway

if it has value, keep it with you.

Also, we're taking our own satnav, which doesn't hold a charge and needs to be plugged into the cigarette lighter. This was going to travel in the suitcase as we won't need it until a few days after we get there...

this is where the policy is unclear.
if there is no power on check on checked items, then it's all for the best.

if there is a check and the device fails to power on, you might not find it when you unpack, and possibly never know if it's been stolen or confiscated (even though you should find an inspection note inside your suitcase, but not guaranteed if the check is performed at your UK airport)

there are apps like navfree USA which are offline GPS for tablets. That might solve the satnav issue. (but never leave a satnav or a tablet inside the car (or even a hint that there might be one inside, like visible a cig lighter cord ). Even at Disney's.

safety first.