Did I See What I Just Saw?
On the evening of Memorial Day, I went to my local airport to pick up my wife who was returning from visiting her brother and his family for a few days. As usual I get to the airport a little bit early so I can plane-spot the very rare ERJ’s and CRJ’s that tend to make it to town.
As I was waiting near the one-way corridor where arriving passengers walk down after leaving the airside part of the terminal, I saw something that I don’t think should happen at any airport. A pair of TSA officers were pushing a cart full of food containers (Tupperware type), grocery store bags, and bottles of soda and water up this one-way corridor (which does not have any security since it is for arriving passengers) and proceeded to disappear into the airside part of the terminal.
Now I may not know every rule that the TSA has or doesn’t have, but shouldn’t ANY ITEM being brought AIR SIDE by ANY ONE be subject to the same scrutiny as a normal passenger? In other words, shouldn’t the cart and it’s contents be screened and X-Ray’d?
The scene was harmless enough. A few TSA agents perhaps planning a pot luck or small gathering after their shift in their break-room is all well and good. But the impression that was left in my mind is that a cart full of “stuff” just bypassed security without the slightest effort of screening the contents.
Do I have cause for concern? I think so.
