Stories of this kind leave me baffled. With all of the money and harsh measures imposed on the public by the Transportation Security Administration, the TSA itself seems barely accountable for continual stories of bungling and gross negligence. Recently, it was revealed that an international flight was allowed to simply go directly from the aircraft to the streets without passing through customs. People were horrified. Now it has happened again with American Airlines Flight 1223 from Cancun, Mexico and one passenger even alerted the TSA at the time and was told to just leave with the rest of the passengers from Mexico. The only reassuring thought is that any drug mule or terrorist would have assumed that this was a trick since no one is this dumb.
According to reports, one passenger approached a Transportation Security Administration agent near the exit, but was told he was free to go. He told the media that “I told them what happened and asked them what should I do . . . They said to me ‘That’s fine, you’re OK. Go ahead.’”
Now, again, passengers are being asked to return to the airport. Are passengers supposed to repack their bags for the most meaningless bag searches. Just for the record: we give TSA roughly $8 billion a year.
LOL! Apparently someone has never left the comfort of his mother’s basement, much less the country.
Since when is TSA responsible for searching people after they get off the plane?
And why on earth would anyone concerned with civil liberties want them to start?
TSA is just conditioning to make Americans more docile. It has nothing to do with terror. The experts agree that it will not stop a serious attempt. It just is a bunch of unconstitutional harassment, premised on likely false flag events.
I used to think that thesis was ridiculous. Lets call it the Alex Jones thesis. But 15 years or so after 9-11, I buy it more and more.
Speaking of the military, I hope our servicemen and women at the Naval Hospital (Balboa) in San Diego are OK.
Active shooter. No info yet. They’ve been told to run, hide, or fight.
“With all of the money and harsh measures imposed on the public by the Transportation Security Administration, the TSA itself seems barely accountable for continual stories of bungling and gross negligence.”
Right. Because the TSA is part of the American Federation of Government Employees. Which makes it hard to fire anyone. The entire premise of the TSA needs to be overhauled. It does not attract the best employees, is not run efficiently, is not accountable, is not effective (just GOOGLE how many times they fail mock runs of firearms and bombs), and it is modeled after a factory. Such factory type work is repetitive and boring, and lulls workers into a walking coma where someone could skip by them singing, “Allahu Akbar let’s go blow up a plane” and they wouldn’t notice.
We should emulate how they do it in Israel. They use profiling, not just by ethnicity but by behavior and other red flags such as no bags. I would trust the military to do short rotations in airport security FAR more than I would some guy zoning out on his 1,000 day staring at an X-ray scanner. Keep rotations short and let the military or police do it. Do a few months on duty at the airport and then cycle out to another job.
But then again, I also think we should go back to the days when those who built the planes would fly on them themselves, with their families. So they were really careful to build them well.
Based on my own numerous trips through customs, I would say it’s very very difficult to make this “mistake.” Everyone involved would have to look the other way, all at the same time, for the extended period of time during which the passengers deplaned, gathered their luggage and departed from the airport.
This is typical of the corporate state that is the USA. It’s not about security. The whole point of the Transportation “Security” Administration is about fleecing the taxpayers so a handful of crooks can run off with billions of dollars. Just like with the rest of the military-security-congressional complex.
isaac,
A bunch of armed bozos DO occupy the airports in the name of national security. When they fail they risk lives, so NO failure should be acceptable. No wonder you are done with this subject because no rational person would excuse this. You are in so deep with this unaccountable bureaucracy that it’s only with clenched teeth you admit the “TSA missed a step”. Now that is progress.
So, TSA missed a step. It must be the government’s fault, the guys in Washington who are stealing all of our rights, etc. Perhaps a bunch of armed bozos should occupy the airport. The answer to the direct question is sh*t happens, regardless of the government. There is really nothing here, so I’m done with this subject.
I’m at a loss as to why TSA is involved with this. They have nothing to do with CIS (customs and immigration). Baggage claim is necessarily between immigration and customs; how did they manage to get bags but not be hit with customs … unless the customs station was either unmanned or they were simply waved (waived? ha!) through there.
“Good enough for government work.”
So what isaac, TSA was doing it’s job and the passengers failed the system for not voluntarily passing through customs? You are quite the defender of the realm.
Paul
This sort of whine also fuels the ‘constant contrarian’.
issac – if you cannot answer a direct question people will think you are po.
issac – what do you blame this on? Business as usual?
What’s truly amazing here is how any mistake, regardless of policy or system, any mistake that typically stems from human error, etc.; becomes illustrative of an evil government, an incompetent government, etc.
The conspiracy mercenaries should simply head West out to Oregon. There are a bunch of fools out there right now that will give you a rifle, open a can of beans for you, and boast about all the cans of ‘whoop-ass’ they are going to open on the government.
If you’re fed up for any reason at all, blame the government.
Skip Customs, Alabama is near Birmingham. The flight would have to be to Birmingham. This is not an international flight.
My gut reaction to this story is, nobody will be held to account. We have the east coast blizzard shutting down government this week and my gut reaction is that I would like them to remain off the clock. I’ve been fed up with government incompetence for quite some time but my gut reaction is the people deserve it. It’s a crying shame.
No system operates at perfect efficiency all the time. Cops make mistakes, medical docs make mistakes, nurses make mistakes, and bureaucrats make mistakes. The question is “Where is the accountability?” Who are the people who fell down on the job, and what kind of punishment, administrative or otherwise, did they receive? Too many employees at the Federal, State, and local levels, public servants all, are allowed to skate after making serious errors. Why can’t people be fired?
Really? Nothing happened. TSA did nothing to stop anything, and nothing happened. It reminds me of those few weeks when NYPD wasn’t getting their tummy rub and reduced their arrests by over half and their ticketing by over 90%, and nothing happened.
Of course, something could have happened, but something could have also have easily happened even if TSA had been up to its tested 95% failure to detect rate. But, hey, “People are Horrified,” and these easily horrified people become even more horrified every time media figures try to pump up that fear.
Keep up the good work, guys.
Land of the Free (but only after a thorough groping and possible cavity search), Home of the “Horrified.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/the-benefits-of-fewer-nypd-arrests/384126/
“I told them what happened and asked them what should I do . . .” I believe. Yes, I truly believe in my TSA And my government. It’s too bad though, because I remember a time when jackbooted thugs were put in jail.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.