Airport Security Screening

[CaptainPanic]

I thought since we have an international membership here it might be interesting to hear how it's done in other countries. Do you have body scanners? Do you have to get a full physical pat-down if you don't pass the scanner?

 

And if people want to talk about the US situation in this thread that's ok too. I'm really wondering how it's going to work out with the flight crews, who are really upset about radiation from the new backscatter x-ray scanners.

 

I realize that the majority of the discussion is about the TSA... but since I know very littue about that, I will come back to the original post (quoted above).

 

In the Netherlands, we have reasonably strict security laws. Body scanners, as far as I know (backed up by this article), are only required for flights to the USA.

Normal security includes a metal detector for people, and a detailed scanner for all luggage. Laptops are scanned separately. There's a pat-down or extra hand-held metal detection if you fail to pass the metal detector once or twice.

 

It seems to me that regardless of how busy it is, and regardless of the airport - there is always a line for security. I think it's part of the strategy to make the bad guys nervous or something... But, the large majority of people who are nervous are people who are about to miss a flight because of the queue.

 

Body scanners aren't the only topic here. The main outrage is the fact that you can't bring a drink on a plane anymore, because some genius came up with the idea that explosives can be liquid... or made of mixtures of liquids. It's a European Union law now. So, everyone has to hand over their bottle of water... and then wait for boarding thirsty, and fly thirsty... Which is actually a booming business. I have no numbers (it's pure speculation from me) but I think that the airport and airlines make millions of euros on sales of drinks after the security checkpoints.