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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: airport security

airport security stories: 53 news summaries

1 - 20 of 53 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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Airport Guard Arrested Over Obama Threats

Fellow NJ worker reportedly overheard him making remarks

Oct 21, 09 2:54 PM CDT
(AP) - A private security guard at Newark Liberty International Airport has been arrested on charges of threatening President Obama before the president was to fly there. A Continental Airlines employee reported overhearing John Brek make threatening comments at an airport coffee cart yesterday afternoon. The 55-year-old security guard was arrested several... More »

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death threats • Newark • airport security • arrest • security guards • Newark airport • President Obama

 Airport Seize Your Stuff? 
 Look for It on eBay 

TSA's confiscated items end up being sold via state agencies

Sep 22, 09 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - From knives to baseball bats to cake-cutters to corkscrews, and including at least one kitchen sink, the Transportation Security Administration confiscates around a million items from air travelers every month, CNN reports. Guns are turned over to law enforcement and shampoo bottles end up in the trash, but the rest... More »

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eBay • airport security • air travel • airport screener • Transportation Security Administration

 Airports Crack Down on Powder 

New anti-explosive measures complement limits on liquids

Sep 18, 09 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Air travelers have yet another thing to worry about when packing their bags: powder. Federal authorities haven’t banned or even restricted baby powder, makeup, talcum powder, and the like, but the TSA is outfitting airports around the country with new kits to test such seemingly innocuous material for explosives.... More »

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airport security • TSA • liquids • powder • Transportation Security Administration

 8 Years On, Critics Call 
 Airport Security 'Theater' 

Critics see cockeyed focus on 'pointy objects,' none on real threats

Sep 11, 09 6:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Billions of dollars in spending since 9/11 has given airport security officers plenty of ways to catch terrorists—but are critics right in calling it "security theater"? Take the “millimeter wave whole body imager,” which pinpoint “anomalies” on your person: Sure, it will spot a... More »

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September 11 • airport security • TSA • air travel • airport screener • 9/11 attacks • Transportation Security Administration • Peter DeFazio

 Suicide Bomb Rocks 
 NATO Base at Kabul Airport 

At least two civilians dead; foreign troops may also be victims

Sep 8, 09 5:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - A suicide bomber blew up his car outside a NATO military base at Afghanistan's main airport today, killing at least two civilians and wounding six others, Reuters reports. Eyewitnesses saw huge flames rising from the airport, which has endured Taliban rocket attacks and suicide bombs in the past. An Afghan... More »

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Afghanistan • NATO • Taliban • suicide bomber • suicide bombing • Kabul • car bomb • airport security • NATO troops • Afghanistan war

(Newser) - Air passengers booking flights in the US can expect some extra questions starting this weekend, the Washington Post reports. Travelers will be asked for their sex and birth date, which will be forwarded along with other information to federal officials checking watch lists. The move comes as the Transportation Security... More »

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airline industry • airport security • air travel • screening • Homeland Security • Transportation Security Administration

(Newser) - If 9 hours on a grounded puddle-jumper with screaming babies and the scent of overly busy toilets wafting through cramped aisles sounds like your idea of a good time, then Continental Airlines had your ticket to paradise. When storms forced a Minneapolis-bound flight to divert to Rochester, Minn., on Friday,... More »

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Minnesota • airport security • Minneapolis airport • airline delays • Continental Airlines • airline passenger's bill of rights • tarmac • ExpressJet Airlines • Rochester, Minn.

 'Spaced Out' LaGuardia 
 Suspect Identified 

Man has three prior NY arrests

Aug 1, 09 3:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Police have identified the man who staged a bomb scare this morning at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the New York Daily News reports. Before his run-in with police, Scott McGann, 32, had already attracted the attention of observers by appearing “intoxicated” and “spaced out.” Cops tackled... More »

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New York • airport security • LaGuardia Airport • bomb scare

(AP) - The main terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport was evacuated this morning, stranding hundreds of passengers, after a man entered the building with a fake bomb in a bag, the AP reports. The terminal was evacuated at around 5:30am after the man approached security in the airport's C concourse.... More »

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New York City • airport security • LaGuardia Airport • bomb scare

Sydney Airport Defends Security After Gang Killing

Police say security did all they could

Mar 23, 09 1:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Officials are defending security systems after a gang of bikers fatally beat a man inside Sydney Airport—then fled in taxis, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "The police can't be everywhere and this could have happened anywhere," said the federal police commissioner. Horrified passengers watched as... More »

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Australia • murder • death • airport security • Sydney • bike gang

(Newser) - Sen. David Vitter, perhaps best known for admitting to patronizing a prostitute, had a very public meltdown at Washington’s Dulles Airport last week after arriving late for a flight, Roll Call reports. Finding the gate already closed when he arrived to board, the Louisiana Republican opened the door anyway,... More »

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Senate Republicans • David Vitter • airport security • Dulles • scandal

(Newser) - Full-body scanners may eventually replace standard metal detectors at airports, USA Today reports. The feds are experimenting with machines that look through clothing for hidden guns or bombs—especially those made of plastic that can elude metal detectors. Tulsa's airport has the scanners now, and San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami,... More »

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privacy • airport security • airport screener • airplanes • Transportation Security Administration

(Newser) - A man was caught with his pants down at Melbourne Airport on Sunday—literally. When custom officers asked a suspicious-looking character who'd just flown in from Dubai to drop his trousers, they were shocked to find a live pigeon strapped to each leg, the Age reports. Each was wrapped in... More »

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Australia • airport • airport security • pigeon • smuggler • customs

Airline Apologizes to Muslims Kicked Off Flight

Family blame racial profiling; Muslim group plans to file complaint

Jan 3, 09 6:55 AM CST
(Newser) - A Muslim American family booted from a New Year's Day flight for allegedly making suspicious remarks has received an apology from AirTran, the Washington Post reports. The family was removed and interrogated after a pair of teenage girls heard two of them discussing which seats on an aircraft were safest... More »

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flight • Muslim Americans • Muslim • airport security • AirTran • racial profiling

Muslims Booted From Flight for 'Suspicious' Comments

Discussion over safest place to sit gets family chucked off AirTran jet

Jan 2, 09 6:20 AM CST
(Newser) - An American Muslim family was booted off an Orlando-bound flight at Reagan National Airport after two of them were overheard discussing the safest place to sit on a plane, the Washington Post reports. Suspicious passengers reported the family, dressed in traditional Muslim garb, to the flight crew. FBI agents were... More »

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flight • Muslim Americans • Muslim • airport security • AirTran • American Muslims

Airport Security Loophole Gets High-Tech Fix

Encryption makes boarding pass 'impossible' to forge

Nov 18, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - The government is finally closing a well-known loophole that makes it easy for would-be terrorists to board planes, Wired reports. Under current rules, it’s possible to forge a boarding pass at home. But new measures will put the passes, with secure barcodes, on smartphones, making it “well-nigh impossible... More »

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airline industry • Michael Chertoff • airport security • smartphones • bar codes • Homeland Security

Families, Line Up Here—if You Have Time

Airports to offer
security lane for kin, travel newbies

Nov 10, 08 6:32 PM CST
(Newser) - Airports will allow families to line up in more leisurely security lanes for the coming holiday season, the AP reports. The checkpoints, which have proven popular in tests at 48 US airports, allow slow-moving families to stick together and less seasoned travelers to avoid scrambling for standard Transportation Security Administration... More »

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terrorism • airport security • TSA • air travel • holiday travel • liquids • security checkpoint

GLOSSIES

 TSA Designed Only 
 to 'Catch Stupid Terrorists' 

Weapons? Check. Liquids? Check. Terrorist propaganda? Check. Write got it all through.

Oct 16, 08 3:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Transportation Security Administration’s nearly $7 billion budget is a waste, Jeffrey Goldberg reports in the Atlantic. With the help of a security expert, Goldberg has, at various times, gotten through airport security using counterfeit passes, carrying potentially dangerous objects and liquids—not to mention a Hezbollah flag and... More »

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War on Terror • counterterrorism • airport security • The Atlantic

 TSA Set to Flush 
 Liquid Restrictions 

X-ray technology that can spot bomb materials may be ready by year's end

Oct 2, 08 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - The oft-frustrating 3-ounces-in-a-baggie restriction on carrying liquids through airport security could be gone within a year, the Wall Street Journal reports. After testing out X-ray technology that detects bomb-making fluids, the Transportation Security Administration’s only remaining step is making sure the software works. “It’s not ready yet,... More »

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terrorism • security • airport security • TSA • air travel

 Alvin Ailey Artist 
 Forced to Dance 
 for Israeli Cops 

Black dancer with Muslim name ordered to dance to prove ID

Sep 10, 08 4:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - A member of New York's Alvin Ailey dance troupe with a Muslim name was forced to dance for Israeli airport cops in a holding cell to prove his identity, AP reports. "It was embarrassing," said Abdur-Rahim Jackson. "The only time I'm really expected to dance is when... More »

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War on Terror • Israel • dance • Muslim • airport security • Alvin Ailey

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