Re: IP: air travel

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 10:23:44 -0700
> From: Brad Templeton <brad () templetons com>
>
>
> On international travel, add not just the fear of being trapped in another 
> country
> should the air system shut down again, but the fear of all the border hassles.
> I'm in the USA legally and flew to my native Canada yesterday but had 2nd 
> thoughts
> about extra border scrutiny, because INS agents have tremendous discretionary
> power and appeal is difficult.
>
> My plane, btw was about 1/3 full.  Normally it is full of people who flew from
> asia to SFO who are connecting on to Toronto.  Unlike myself, I got there 
> 2 hours
> early which was a waste of time.  There was a line of 4 people at check 
> in, and
> then about 2 minutes to get through security.
>
> They asked for ID at security as well as check-in, pushing for passports. 
> However,
> I insisted that a passport was not required for Canada-US travel and go 
> through
> showing an INSPASS (not useful any more in the INSPASS scanners, they 
> discontinued
> that last week) which was not scanned, just looked at.  If you show your 
> passport they scan
> it in their reader.
>
> At security, not much different.  Perhaps a few more seconds with my bag 
> in the
> x-ray.  I was scanned again with a wand, but others were not, may be 
> random checking.
> For the first time I was also gently frisked at ankles and back, because 
> the detector
> was set off by my suspenders.  Consent was asked.
>
> On the flight the most amazing announcement.  "Feel free to use your cell 
> phones on
> board, however, they will probably stop working at 15,000 feet."
>
> I asked the Captain, and he said it was Captain's discretion about use of 
> phones.
> As we all know, they are not actually a danger -- millions of cell phones 
> are left
> on in jacket pockets on flights, but it was good to see them be open about it.
> Perhaps the cell phone as the technological hero of the downed flight has made
> a real change?   This was a United Airlines flight.
>
> I talked to the FAs and gently asked if they had known some people on 
> UA93.  Even
> I was shocked as they casually then bantered about a woman they knew who 
> was "such
> a nice person" and then wondered, "Is she the one they slit the throat of?  We
> heard they slit the throats of flight attendants" in cheery, flight 
> attendant voice.
>
> This on the same flight that they pulled all copies of the United magazine 
> from
> because it contained a picture of the WTC towers, pre-attack!
>
> We had the same plastic knives that you can bend in a circle that people
> complained about, but a metal fork.
>
> Final note -- One passenger, coming from 2 months in China, was ill with 
> some sort
> of allergic reaction.  I think he ended up OK, but it was actually good 
> for the
> passengers because it allowed us to land at an airport otherwise 
> temporarily closed
> for bad thunderstorms.  But to help him, they got out an oxygen cylinder.  And
> I started thinking, if you want a weapon, a cylinder of compressed oxygen 
> could be
> pretty dangerous.  All you have to do is say you are ill and they will 
> deliver it.
> Another way we can never really stop weapons from getting on planes.



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