Octover 20, 2023
Nothing is more frustrating than getting pinged at airport security checks. It has never amounted to problems except has a nuisance value; it takes time. I had three flights in a row a few weeks ago; going to Paris, to Marseille and Figari Airport in Corsica, and then returning to Ottawa. I had been pinged six times. Unsurprisingly, I had two hip replacements with metal in my body.
I had not found the secondary inspections onerous; the staff were mostly courteous except in Paris at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, where there was a huge crowd of people, and the inspectors were hurried and harassed. And I found the directions we were told to follow to get through inspections confusing. But each time the inspectors also patted me down before using a wand. That took time, sometimes up to ten minutes. “Take your belt off”, and “Take your shoes off”, I was instructed. And if I left some paper money in my pockets, or left my watch on, they took it from me and put it through the scanner again that was fifty feet back, consuming even more time.
I have learned to fully empty my pockets and put everything in the carry-on backpack, including my cell phone, cap, watch, wallet, and spare change. Although one has to put an iPad into a tray for inspection, nobody said anything about my Kindle, which I left in my carry-on backpack. Is this an inconsistency? I would think so, a Kindle is the same as an iPad. The passport and boarding pass were the only items left in the tray with the carry-on backpack, the rest was all in my backpack.
What concerned me was the time it took to be patted down and wanded, while my backpack went through the scan line moving slowly to where people picked up their belongings. Who knows, anybody could have picked up my belongings while the metal in my body was inspected. That worried me. My credit cards, money, and other documents could be stolen.
Since more and more people have metal in their bodies, some entrepreneurs could take advantage of the time it takes to get through secondary and pick up those people’s belongings looking for quick cash and disappear into the crowded airport.
A second concerning scenario is when an object in your backpack triggers a security issue and the backpack is taken back for another scan. Sometimes the inspectors use the wand to check the backpack but often they take it back for a second scan. By this time, your body is cleared through the gates or body scan but your belongings, and your backpack are brought back to the scanning machine. You stay at the end of the line where the trays are coming through the scanning machine, while your belongings are starting over. You are separated from your belongings for minutes. And the opportunity arises for people to steal your belongings.
A case in point was Kathy’s purse that triggered the inspector to pick it up and take it back to the front of the line going into the scanning machine, over fifty feet away from us. It was an unnerving moment when we realized that we’d have to wait for the tray with the purse to come out of the machine again. We waited and waited with the crowd around us, worrying when we’d see the purse containing Katthy’s money, credit cards, etc. It took twenty minutes to see the purse coming down in a tray towards us. The point is that there was ample opportunity to steal the purse.
I have no trouble with checking for metals in the body (except for the inconvenience and time it takes), which started after 9/11. But I would suggest that your belongings should always be close to you; the system should be designed in such a manner that your belongings are always visible to you.
Equally importantly, there should be a better system – faster and cheaper – than having inspectors patting down and wanding people. Could one have papers showing the type and location of metals in your body issued by relevant authorities? Yes, yes, I know, on this type of issue there should be international agreements among governments, a difficult but possible scenario. For example, one could have an ID card with a picture (like a credit card) showing what and where the metal pieces are. That type of approach would greatly reduce the time and cost of the number of secondary inspections resulting from the aging population with increasing hip and knee replacements.
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