Quote:
Originally posted by jeni
when i went through the metal detectors before going to my gate at BWI last tuesday, they made me take off my shoes because the metal detector went off. i don't know why, because it didn't go off at san jose and i was wearing the same shoes, and nothing metal besides. ... but i still find it funny that the detectors at SJC didn't reflect that.
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You have assumed a standard exists. It did not even exist in the early 1980s. Some airports would detect everything. Others never detected keys, change, swiss army knife, or belt buckle as long as they were not together.
Security alerts were noted by increased sensitivity of the machines in too many airports. It surprised me that Newark metal detectors were always set more sensitive than many other airports. But now we know that security was so lax in some locations. Management would even take the test for potential security employees who could not otherwise pass. Since those scanner settings were adjustable by employees, well, we can both speculate from there.
BTW, county courthouse metal detectors always detected everything. However when visiting a county prison, I was turned back after the scanners because I was carrying my book. When I went back to have the security tower hold my book, I suddenly realized that I had a swiss army knife in my pocket that metal detectors never sensed both going in and coming back. Next time I visited the prison, security sensor sensitivity was detecting everyone. Again, security is only a function of how much the guard wants to check for that day. Sensitivity is adjusted by local people - not set by a national standard.
But then again we are returning to the complaints of the FAAs own Inspector General. Even she could not get the attention of an organization famous for its graveyard mentality. And so today, there is still not standards for scanner sensitivity for the FAA? What else is new?