greg_smith4 Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 "WASHINGTON (July 30) - Federal officials say they have no plans to raise the nation's terrorism alert level despite warnings that five- man al-Qaida teams may be planning to hijack and crash more airplanes, similar to the Sept. 11 attacks. ``The hijackers may try to calm passengers and make them believe they were on a hostage, not suicide, mission,'' a warning distributed over the weekend to airlines and law enforcement agencies said. ``The hijackers may attempt to use common items carried by travelers, such as cameras, modified as weapons.''" Bad for two reasons, on there could be more hijacking, two air port security will be near impossible with camera equipment. Unfortunately, I will be flying to Florida in the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_s. Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I got the official <a href="http://travel.state.gov/wwc1.html">State Department warning</a> (for U.S. citizens abroad) in my mailbox this morning. When I read CNN a few minutes ago, I was.. well.. a little worried, and was about to start a thread. Grady beat me to it by minutes.<p>I haven't found the official <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/">Department of Homeland Security</a> warning yet. The text Grady quoted is paraphrased in a CNN <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/07/29/airline.warning/index.html">report</a> that also includes:<p><i>Homeland Security officials said there is no immediate plan to raise the nation's threat level, but that the aviation sector has been encouraged to review security practices and implement new random measures. One official would not specify what the new security steps might be, but said one of the points of the advisory is to encourage security personnel at every level to be on the lookout for new and different terrorist techniques.</i><p>The official TSA list of <a href="http://www.tsa.dot.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/tsa_ppitems.pdf">permitted items in carry-on luggage</a> includes camera equipment--but the list is dated 11/21/02. While airport security has improved by the TSA taking over, how do you explain to average security personnel that you can't fully open e.g. a Canon EOS 1Ds--or a Sony DSC-F717? Or that you can't just unscrew a 70-200mm's barrel to let people look into it? And, what if security suddenly decides SLRs and lenses above a certain size--or interchangeable lenses in general--are banned from carry-on luggage, and does so one hour before you arrive at the airport?<p>I hope I'm just paranoid, but experience has shown security definitely is. Let us pray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainbubba_motornapkins Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I suspect they will not ask to disassemble camera gear (etc.), unless you happen to fit their (ludicrous) racial profiling, but they will continue x-raying it with their super hi-strength xray machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gib Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 a year ago flying out of Toronto I was asked to open the back of an empty Nikon FM2 and fire the shutter several times and to remove the caps of all the prime lens I was carrying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Granted enough plastique could be tucked inside a gutted camera to blow out the side of a jet. But why is it the gummint and their toadies in the news media continually demonize photography, with all their dire warnings to watch out for unusual people taking photos of things they shouldn't be photographing, like...buildings and...stuff...'cause, like, why would anyone need to photograph stuff that isn't of a birthday party or your grandma in a wheelchair? Hasn't it occurred to them that explosives or other weapons could be hidden in a modifed laptop, PDA or cell phone? But I can't recall the last time I heard another tiresome terror alert that mentioned anything other than cameras and photography. And is anyone else tired of the nation constantly being on Condition: Eyes On Stalks!!! Just once I'd like to go a week on Condition: Bug Up Me Bum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_gillette Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Not me Lex, I'd rather they look in my camera bag! I don't fly much anymore but don't mind showing off the gear, uh, camera gear. I've never heard of anyne having to do anything except show functionality of various kinds of devices. If you get a toad who wants disassembly, get a supervisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_scheuern Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 <P>Cryptographer and security expert Bruce Schneier has an interesting article about dealing with pointless, stupid security measures, "How to Fight", in the current <A HREF="http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0307.html">Crytpo-Gram</A>. Alas, you usually can't fight since the people who enforce security aren't the ones who make the rules, and the ones who make the rules often don't have a clue.</P> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_kay Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I think with digital if you show them the camera works and take an image and show them on the LCD screen it will lessen their desire to take stuff apart. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Tardio Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Soon it will reach the point where we are all placed in "hyper-sleep" when we fly...like the <i>Alien</i> movies. All of our luggage will be towed behind us in a bomb proof container. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatkins Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Jim - I think you are wrong. What's really going to happen is they're going to make us all fly naked and send our luggage on ahead via FedEx. Not only does this reduce the risk of terrorism, but they be able to cram another 100 seats into the luggage hold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike l Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 According to MI5, who have the latest from Blofeld, the enemy are likely to be using film canisters or film cameras, it seems that the film can be extracted and used quite effectively as a garotte. There is particular emphasis on APS film and cameras, because of the narrow width of the film lends itself to this purpose, and the likelyhood that it contains images of near naked sunburned people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_eppstein Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Gah. I am outside US with my camera. Hope I don't have trouble getting back with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_somerset1 Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I would expect that they'll be most interested simply in verifying that the camera is actually functional. Presumably, if you modify it as a weapon, it would not be. I'll be flying through Miami on Sunday. I'm not concerned. If I should have been, you'll all know on Sunday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_eppstein Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 My 70-200/2.8 doesn't need to be modified to make an effective weapon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_s. Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 <i>Hasn't it occurred to them that explosives or other weapons could be hidden in a modifed laptop, PDA or cell phone?</i><br>They used to weigh laptops and PDAs at European airports, and woe to you if its weight wasn't precisely according to manufacturers' specs. One insurance company had all its reps in trouble after their laptops had been upgraded by the insurance's engineers.<p>What makes cameras look odd is batteries. They're pretty dense metallic objects, and if you have two or more of them stacked, they're a black spot on the X-ray operator's monitor. Now, opening a film camera is easy, but any digicam has a lot of enclosed space that cannot be opened without tools. (If you have one, check how much electronics and empty space is still there after you've removed the battery and the storage card.) If security <i>wants</i> to harass you, they'll just insist that your digital camera is impenetrable by X-rays, so it's gotta stay grounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulr Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 If the TSA would look at our photographs they certainly would know we are not photographers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_andrews Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 I had no problem taking my gear INTO the US in June, and shot a few rolls of the Golden Gate, the Brooklyn Bridge (even used infrared film as an experiment), a few dams, the Empire State Building, San Diego's harbor (with the Coronado Bridge), and even the wing of an airplane in flight. Think they'll let me out again? FWIW, my N8008 body would be a better weapon than your 80-200mm lens. I got an extra-long strap to get more force when I swing it around my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_eppstein Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Just to follow up on this: I flew back from Canada yesterday, and the only changes I saw compared to my previous recent flying experiences (where I just put the camera bag through the carry-on X-ray machine) were that I had to take the camera out of the bag for the X-ray, and afterwards they swabbed it for explosives residues. They were also swabbing all laptops. So, not much problem for cameras in security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg s Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 The vast majority of this stuff I refer to as "rumaging through grannie's panties". They have wasted vast amounts of time and effort being politically correct by considering everyone as a suspect, but have yet to do didly about the massive holes in identity theft. They still don't really know who's who as we continue to live in a world of paper and plastic docs which can be and are forged by the countless thousands. Actually, as time progresses you will be flying naked (momentarilly at least) as they have grannie walk through imaging equipment and check her undies, and beyond. Meanwhile, the real threat will be roaming around with 20 passports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_strong3 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 I just came back from two weeks in Russia and have not one horror story to tell. The "worst" thing that happened to me was some gal in Copenhagen took all 35 rolls of film out the the lead film bag and "sniffed" them for explosives. That seems like a pretty reasonable precaution to me. The biggest problem is that we now have to show our passports every time we fart and I tell ya I do produce some methane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff schwartz Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 The TSA's website indicates that there are several reasons for having film hand inspected. These include any film that will be pushed, underexposed. It also included 800 speed and faster, as well as "professional films". It goes on to say that you can ALWAYS request and receive a hand inspection at US airports. I have flown a couple times since the TSA took over and all that happened was that they swabed the film for explosives. If they say thay have to x-ray it, politely ask for a supervisor. Coming back from Vancouver, the canadian authorities did one better. I was in line, my film in a clear bag in my hand, waiting to go through security. The security person approached me in line and said, "would you like that hand inspected sir" I of course said yes and that is what they did. My camera bags are routinely swabed for explosives but thats about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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