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News has emerged of a US airline passenger who attempted to smuggle a knife through a TSA security checkpoint in her hand luggage at Dane County Regional Airport (MSN) in Madison, Wisconsin. The alarming nature of this incident obviously raised eyebrows, given that it violated safety rules put in place to keep passenger and crew safe, but particularly surprising was the honesty of the flyer involved.
Indeed, according to a recent statement issued by the Transportation Security Administration on the matter, the woman who owned the knife admitted that she had deliberately attempted to conceal the blade. However, rather than wanting to use it for the wrong reasons, she had simply hidden the knife as she did not want to pay to check it in. Let’s take a closer look at this rather unusual security story.
The Knife Was Deliberately Concealed
The TSA reported earlier this week that its officers had stopped a woman in Madison after finding a knife in her hand luggage. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a remarkable occurrence: some people mistakenly pack penknives in their baggage due to not knowing the rules, while others are sometimes guilty of accidentally leaving them in their bags from other trips. This, however, was different.
TSA Officer Callie Meis was the first to raise the alarm after spotting the blade on her X-ray screen, and a search by her colleague Jim Kohn confirmed that it had been “artfully concealed.” When challenged on the matter, the passenger’s honesty was surprising, telling Meis and Kohn that she “was attempting to conceal this knife from TSA” on account of an upcoming camping trip. Meis then went on to say that:
“Between both the discovery and the admission of wanting to conceal it, I determined that calling for law enforcement support would be the proper course of action.”
Attempted Fee Avoidance
This resulted in law enforcement officers from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office attending the scene, as well as TSA Manager Annie Lu. It then transpired that, as the TSA puts it, the passenger “wanted to avoid paying the $100 baggage fee, so she chose not to check her luggage.” Had she done so, she would have been allowed to take the knife on her trip, but bringing it in the cabin was obviously a no-go.
She reportedly also told the attending TSA officers that she had not expected them to find the concealed knife in her bag, but, of course, this is the very task that the agency was set up to excel at. Ultimately, the TSA explained that “the passenger voluntarily surrendered the knife to TSA and was cleared for travel,” but only having learned the important life lesson of never trying to sneak anything past security.
Andrew Kasten, a TSA Officer who attended the scene and examined the bag and its contraband, hoped that lessons could be learned from this incident. Appealing to the flying public, he said that “for whatever reason you may be traveling, don’t jeopardize your income or freedom just to save an item like this $5 knife.” Kohn added that “our team does a great job making sure every possible threat is found.”
TSA Rules On Knives & Other Sharp Objects
Given the obvious and severe safety ramifications of contraband, especially in the form of a bladed weapon, making it into the cabin of an aircraft, the TSA understandably has strict rules when it comes to the transportation of knives. According to the TSA, the only sharp objects that can be taken in hand luggage are crochet hooks, disposable razors, and knitting needles: they must all be wrapped properly.
Cigar cutters are also permitted, although not as widely as the other objects just mentioned. Indeed, the TSA notes that “while cigar cutters are generally permitted, we recommend that you pack them in your checked baggage.” It adds that “TSA officers have the discretion to prohibit any item through the screening checkpoint if they believe it poses a security threat.” All other sharp objects must be checked in.
