musher
Member
Ok, up front I've got to say I've never been pleased with the implementation of the TSA. Even with that bias, I figured it was worth sharing this experience so others could possibly avoid it.
On July 19 I travelled from Juneau to Fairbanks via AK Air. Among other baggage (including a cooler full of king crab
), I was travelling with a long-gun case containing a shotgun and a checked bag containing a glock 27, a box of .40 ammo and a box of 12 ga ammo.
As usual the check-in with AK Air went smoothly. I signed my 2 declaration cards and put them in the right places. Then things got a bit strange. In other airports, I've been asked to leave the luggage unlocked and observe (but don't touch) the relocking process. In Juneau, I was asked to lock both bags containing firearms. After they went behind the wall, a TSA agent came out and asked for my keys. I told him that I would prefer to unlock the bags myself, as I wasn't supposed to relinquish my keys but he informed me that 'That's not how we do it' Clearly, in order to travel I was going to have to give him my keys, so I did. I asked that I be allowed to confirm that the bags were locked before they were sent on. The TSA guy just grunted and left with my keys.
About 20 min later, he came back out with my keys. I asked to see the bags to confirm that they had been properly sealed and he told me that they had moved on a while ago. When I reminded him that I had requested to see them, he called a second TSA agent out who assured me that he had personally overseen the relocking of the bags and that everything was fine.
Ok, it was annoying, but I moved on. That is, until I arrived at Fairbanks. Here's a picture of the bag containing the glock and ammo as it came off the belt at Fairbanks
YIKES. I quickly felt around inside and determined that the dangerous stuff was still there. As you can see here, it wouldn't have taken much to lose the handgun case
.
(Before this picture I removed the locks in front of TSA in Fairbanks to verify the handgun was inside)
Inspecting the bag it was apparent that they had removed my clothes, probably to pull out the handgun. When they repacked the bag, they didn't refold the clothes, but simply stuffed them into the bag randomly. When I had packed the bag there was no stress on the zipper (it wasn't overstuffed) After the TSA repacking, the bag was too full to close properly and they cross-threaded the zipper trying to make it fit. The open part is where the zipper blew out along its length. So much for making the airport safer!
The TSA agent in Fairbanks gave me a tip along with a claim form to send to WA DC when I contacted him about this. He said that folks can request a private inspection of their luggage if they desire. In the future, I will always be making this request in order to be sure that these folks actually can work a zipper after they tear my bag apart confirming that there really is a handgun inside there.
FWIW
musher
On July 19 I travelled from Juneau to Fairbanks via AK Air. Among other baggage (including a cooler full of king crab
), I was travelling with a long-gun case containing a shotgun and a checked bag containing a glock 27, a box of .40 ammo and a box of 12 ga ammo.As usual the check-in with AK Air went smoothly. I signed my 2 declaration cards and put them in the right places. Then things got a bit strange. In other airports, I've been asked to leave the luggage unlocked and observe (but don't touch) the relocking process. In Juneau, I was asked to lock both bags containing firearms. After they went behind the wall, a TSA agent came out and asked for my keys. I told him that I would prefer to unlock the bags myself, as I wasn't supposed to relinquish my keys but he informed me that 'That's not how we do it' Clearly, in order to travel I was going to have to give him my keys, so I did. I asked that I be allowed to confirm that the bags were locked before they were sent on. The TSA guy just grunted and left with my keys.
About 20 min later, he came back out with my keys. I asked to see the bags to confirm that they had been properly sealed and he told me that they had moved on a while ago. When I reminded him that I had requested to see them, he called a second TSA agent out who assured me that he had personally overseen the relocking of the bags and that everything was fine.
Ok, it was annoying, but I moved on. That is, until I arrived at Fairbanks. Here's a picture of the bag containing the glock and ammo as it came off the belt at Fairbanks
YIKES. I quickly felt around inside and determined that the dangerous stuff was still there. As you can see here, it wouldn't have taken much to lose the handgun case
.
(Before this picture I removed the locks in front of TSA in Fairbanks to verify the handgun was inside)
Inspecting the bag it was apparent that they had removed my clothes, probably to pull out the handgun. When they repacked the bag, they didn't refold the clothes, but simply stuffed them into the bag randomly. When I had packed the bag there was no stress on the zipper (it wasn't overstuffed) After the TSA repacking, the bag was too full to close properly and they cross-threaded the zipper trying to make it fit. The open part is where the zipper blew out along its length. So much for making the airport safer!
The TSA agent in Fairbanks gave me a tip along with a claim form to send to WA DC when I contacted him about this. He said that folks can request a private inspection of their luggage if they desire. In the future, I will always be making this request in order to be sure that these folks actually can work a zipper after they tear my bag apart confirming that there really is a handgun inside there.
FWIW
musher
