TSA Failure: Agency Falls Short on Most Undercover Screening Tests

The TSA has been in the news lately, and not for a good reason. As you may have noticed, the security lines at most major U.S. airports are ridiculously long—so long that many people are actually missing flights despite arriving at the airport within the typical two-hour window.

For $85 and a little bit of legwork, TSA PreCheck lets you skip the airport security line on domestic flights. It’s a nice service for frequent travelers wanting to save time, and a privilege, you’d think, worth paying for.

It’s been almost 15 years since Richard Reid, better known as the shoe bomber, failed in his attempt to bring down an American Airlines flight with an explosive hidden in his shoe. And yet here we are, all these years later, still shuffling through TSA checkpoints in our socks or bare feet. Why, you might ask, are we still forced to do this?

An incredible, unsettling report from the ACLU, using the documents obtained from the TSA, details patterns of racial and religious profiling, dubious tactics, and shaky science in that agency’s behavior detection program.

File this under: Why does the TSA have to even say this out loud?

Give thanks! Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, American and United have launched automated security screening lanes at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Two of American’s 18 lanes have been converted, and United has added three automated lanes of its own.

It was only a few weeks ago that the TSA claimed victory over the scourge of long lines at airport security, but now it seems those long lines could return. “Could,” however, is the operative word, and it all comes down to Congress.

The TSA is usually a traveler’s worst nightmare, but thanks to the @AskTSA Twitter account, the TSA it turns out can actually be funny. The customer-service Twitter account answers travelers most absurd questions (no, you cannot travel with liquid mercury) about what they can and cannot carry onto a plane. And while this article is all in good fun, some questions and responses are actually useful, especially when it comes to holiday travel—it prefers if you don’t wrap your gifts, by the way—and traveling with food, liquids, and electronics.

If you’re packing coffee, spices, baby powder, or anything else that could be considered to be a “powder-like substance” in your carry-on, you’ll need to keep it to 12 ounces or less or be subjected to additional screening, according to a new rule from the TSA.

The TSA says it found a record number of guns in carry-on bags last week, August 12-18. The total number of confiscated firearms was 81. An alarming 70 of those guns were loaded, and 31 had a round chambered.

Ever waited near a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint for another traveler, raised your voice at a TSA employee, or brushed away an agent’s hand? You might be on a secret TSA watch list and not even know it.

TSA has approved new baggage scanners designed to do two things: Speed up airport security lines, and provide better imaging of your bag’s contents. Once installed, these scanners could make airports safer, and security checkpoints run smoother.