[wordup] interesting anecdote and fact

[Adam Shand]

I thought that there were extenuating circumstances on airports, but maybe
not.  Anyway, as all the anti-terrorism fun and games ramps up, it's gonna
be good too know what the actual deal is.

From: Erica <erica at spack.org>

So my sister and boyfriend go to leave Denver today.  They've got an 8 am
flight out, meaning we have to be at the airport at 5.  (Blech.)  Anyway,
we get there, they get checked in, and have to have all their bags Xrayed.
We trundle off to the Xray line, and right as they're in line, the Xray
machine breaks.  (They had a total of 3; two were down and one went off
and they had to bring the bomb-sniffing dogs in.  I don't know what
happened with that one.)

Anyway, a woman comes over and tells the employees that due to the Xray
machine being down, they have to hand-search all of the bags.  Kirsten and
Nick dutifully start unpacking one of their four large duffels.  The lady
at the counter makes them literally unpack *everything*, including
unfolding all of their clothes, unrolling their tent and sleeping bag,
etc.  They get through one bag, and we hear that one of the Xray machines
is back up.  We repack everything and trundle off to the other side of the
airport.  As we are waiting for their bags to be Xrayed, a gentleman comes
up to us.  He'd been standing behind us in the original Xray/hand search
line and tells us this nifty little fact:

After we left, a person from the FBI came over to the Xray/hand search
counter and told the woman there that airlines are NOT allowed to hand
search baggage, nor are they allowed to request it.  It's against
government regulations.  ONLY the FBI are allowed to do so.  (The woman
flipped out, understandably.)

So, for any of you who plan on flying any time soon, know your rights.
If anyone asks you to unpack your bags for a hand search, they better have
the initials FBI on their uniform somewhere.

Erica