Nigerian man boards with expired boarding pass

"FBI officials say he did not have a valid ID, using instead a University of Michigan ID card with his photo and full name, KTLA reports."
Huh???? And he got through our heroes at TSA... how??? That's what concerns me the most. I have to wait 30 minutes in line while these jokers scrutinize everyone's ID and someone uses a fake college ID to get through???
Now getting on the plane I can understand. Heck, I've taken people to the wrong destination. Taken people to Panama City, FL who wanted to go to Panama City, Panama. Umm... the props didn't tip you off?
 
SIUav8er said:
just wait till they get a guy in the cockpit jumpseat who aint supposed to be there...
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My understanding of the FARs is the Captain must check the license and medical of the jumpseater to confirm they have the quals to be up front.

Recently, I asked a very senior pilot for a major airline, top 100 at his company, for his license and medical. He had placed his carryon in the gate checked luggage (I fly an RJ) and it was underneath the plane at that point. He became agitated. I didn't budge, but politely offered to go down on the ramp to get his bag. It was a mainline station, we were close to push time, and the gate and ground lead agents became agitated at me. I say agitated, probably more like "incredibly pissed off". This CA, after getting his documents, asked me if this was a new policy. I replied that it is an FAR.

About halfway thru the flight, he spoke up. He acknowledged that it was a good idea, as many years ago he had an aircraft manufacturer jumpseater. During conversation, it came up that the jumpseater was actually an office worker, and had no license or medical. I told him that is why it is an FAR.

Pilots are the last line of defense, if we did our jobs what you speak about wouldn't happen. In 34 years of jumpseating, this guy had never been asked for his license/medical.
 
I think that's the same sumbitch that tricked me into sending him my checking account info. Told me he was Nigerian royalty or something. Jokes on him though, as I hardly ever have any money, ever.
 
Cal Goat said:
I think that's the same sumbitch that tricked me into sending him my checking account info. Told me he was Nigerian royalty or something. Jokes on him though, as I hardly ever have any money, ever.
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Damn, he got you too? At least I know I'm not alone now.
 
Blackhawk said:
"FBI officials say he did not have a valid ID, using instead a University of Michigan ID card with his photo and full name, KTLA reports."
Huh???? And he got through our heroes at TSA... how??? That's what concerns me the most. I have to wait 30 minutes in line while these jokers scrutinize everyone's ID and someone uses a fake college ID to get through???
Now getting on the plane I can understand. Heck, I've taken people to the wrong destination. Taken people to Panama City, FL who wanted to go to Panama City, Panama. Umm... the props didn't tip you off?
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Captain today used his company crew badge on TSA. It's official looking, but we are a small 135 company with no CASS. This, is what your tax dollars pay for. Some ree-ree to look official, and play security theater. Which bring me to another point.


The other day, I was airlining out of LAS. Some lady looks at me as she is about to go into the full body scanner and says, "I think this stuff is so neat, I like it!" I look her straight in the face, and say, "I don't. Do you like a complete stranger seeing you naked?" She had a very puzzled look on her face. In my monkey suit, I told her "All this is, is security theater."

Which brings me to another point. Today, airlining out of LAS again (been doing a lot of contract work lately it seems, to Vegas too, go figure), an FA brings a bottle/wine opener through the scanner, and puts it in the x-ray machine. It wasn't confiscated. But hell hath no fury if Les Abend tries to bring a bottle of steak sauce through the security line. They'll take that away because it could be a threat!

Whats the moral of all of this? The inconsistency of the system. It's broken. And the TSA is not the fix to it.
 
mshunter said:
Captain today used his company crew badge on TSA. It's official looking, but we are a small 135 company with no CASS. This, is what your tax dollars pay for. Some ree-ree to look official, and play security theater. Which bring me to another point.
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As long as it's SIDA approved you're usually good to go. That tells TSA that we've already gotten the ten year background check and will likely not be an issue. Plus it traveling crew members from having to go through the full body scanners all of the time. The countious passing through the scanner would likely sky rocket the reading on my dosimeter anyways.

TSA also doesn't look at you as funny when they see the fuel strainer with the screw driver attachment and large D cell magna flash light come through the scanner. Lets not even begin to talk about liquid and gels. :cool:
 
Yeah the ever-observant TSA should have caught this guy at security. BUT, Virgin let him on the plane with an incorrect boarding pass! Don't they use scanners like everyone else? Sadly, I don't really find it surprising that he made it past security (I have SO much faith the TSA's abilities :sarcasm: ) but shouldn't the scanners at the gate have caught him before he made his west-bound flight?
 
MQAAord said:
Yeah the ever-observant TSA should have caught this guy at security. BUT, Virgin let him on the plane with an incorrect boarding pass! Don't they use scanners like everyone else? Sadly, I don't really find it surprising that he made it past security (I have SO much faith the TSA's abilities :sarcasm: ) but shouldn't the scanners at the gate have caught him before he made his west-bound flight?
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If it was scanned then it would have beeped "wrong date." But if they don't use them and only enter the sequence numbers into the computer it would have come up "sequence reconciled" and the agent should have taken a closer look as to why. But, it's what you get when very poorly trained agents, with no incentive to do well, at little money, are asked to "be alert." When the entire safety chain is based on the lowest common denominator theory (maybe I should coin that and be published in some organizational/motivational theory book) from check-in agents, to TSA, to gate agents....this is what will happen.
 
KLB said:
As long as it's SIDA approved you're usually good to go. That tells TSA that we've already gotten the ten year background check and will likely not be an issue. Plus it traveling crew members from having to go through the full body scanners all of the time. The countious passing through the scanner would likely sky rocket the reading on my dosimeter anyways.

TSA also doesn't look at you as funny when they see the fuel strainer with the screw driver attachment and large D cell magna flash light come through the scanner. Lets not even begin to talk about liquid and gels. :cool:
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It's a small company. Whats SIDA?
 
You know, I don't even blame the TSA as a primary.

The guy didn't have any contraband and was screened.

I have to lay it in the airline's lap because if you can get on a jet without a proper ticket or ID, holy cow, I'm going to forgoe non-revving and just print my own tickets at home! :)
 
I don't fly on the airlines very often, but last time I have flown the airlines my boarding passes always got scanned by the barcode machine thing. I don't see how somebody could really get around this. I believe the airline gate workers are more responsible for the mess up than the TSA is. Don't get me wrong though, I am a firm believer the TSA is one of the most broken things I have ever seen. It really is like a circus.
 
Well, people ARE cheap! :)

Think about it. There would be nothing stopping an airline from making a private terminal, using private screening (if anything at all), flying to a private airport and taxiing into a private terminal, all outside the purview of the TSA and their policies.

But the traveling public will not pay for it.

I'm on a jet right now. Exit row, on our third drink service, live satellite television (for free), MP-3's, video on demand and fairly snappy Wifi service on an airline where when I land in JFK, I can fly to almost any major domestic and international city in the world, but if it's $1 more than USAirways, people will fly USAirways with none of the above amenities on this route.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Well, people ARE cheap! :)

Think about it. There would be nothing stopping an airline from making a private terminal, using private screening (if anything at all), flying to a private airport and taxiing into a private terminal, all outside the purview of the TSA and their policies.

But the traveling public will not pay for it.

I'm on a jet right now. Exit row, on our third drink service, live satellite television (for free), MP-3's, video on demand and fairly snappy Wifi service on an airline where when I land in JFK, I can fly to almost any major domestic and international city in the world, but if it's $1 more than USAirways, people will fly USAirways with none of the above amenities on this route.
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Well I doubt $1 would do it. If it does, it just goes to show you the airline you are on has done a horrible job of branding itself, or that its brand is inconsistent. An example of a brand that is consistent is jetBlue and Southwest. My Aunt used US Air exclusively for business until discovering jetBlue.
 
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