I'm a women who's "randomly selected by the airline" for groping every single time i fly, and the pat-down is really no big deal. They lightly brush over, under, and between your breasts and don't actually touch anything. They aren't squeezing a handful or doing anything really thorough, and this ladys reaction of being shaken up and sobbing seems a bit overblown. Some people I suppose are sensitive, but it sounds more like she's looking for a fight and a possible reason to sue. Even if its obvious just by looking that she doesn't have any machine gun jubblies, the airline benefits more by turning away a noncompliant passenger than by letting them on. They don't want to send the message that terrorists could be talking their way out of a bodysearch.

When she bought the ticket, did she agree to the terms?

Probably.

Security checks are security checks. We've all got to go through them.

And, I'm going to have to agree with the TSA on this one.

Excerpt reads:

The agency announced extra security measures last month in the wake of the mid-air bombing of two Russian jetliners. Authorities believe two women smuggled explosives onto the aircraft, possibly in "torso packs" underneath their clothing.

Bob Kapp, customer service manager for the TSA in Denver, said that to conduct a thorough pat-down search of women, "it does require going beneath, between and above the breasts."

My guess is she misunderstood, then overreacted, then refused to listen.

Really, really, really annoying people do that to me all the time...

The importance is passenger safety, not whether or not some attention whore enjoyed her rubdown.

If you dont expect to be patted down then you are crazy.
A terrorist can look like anyone now.
Besides it is in all the rules and regulations that you can be searched throughly.
So this pregnant woman should not be complaining she should be greatful that we have put the secruity in place.

It's not that she didn't expect to be patted down it's that she didn't expect to be rubbed on the boobies.

Also, read the article.

Overall, that's true, but you've got to consider passenger satisfaction. If everyone was strip searched you'd loose a lot of business.

She must've agreed to the terms, even if she didn't know what they were or didn't expect them to come into play. I'm going to agree that she probably overreacted, realized she was wrong, but then was too far in to do anything but admit she was wrong.. and who wants to do that?

I wonder why you're randomly selected.

When your options are:

1) Eat crow and say, "sorry, I misunderstood" to a complete stranger you've never met before and will never meet again.

or

2) Rent a car and drive 15 hours, forfeiting the price you've paid (probably around $350-$400 for two people)for airline tickets.

It takes very little common sense to go with #1

Perhaps. However there are time when it is completely inappropriate to search some folks.

Consider a 92 year old World War 2 vet who was frisked, arms up in the air, shoes taken off etc. and refusing to get the fact that the damn detector is going off because of the huge fucking hearing aids in his ears.

Yes this recently happened. A friend of ours was headed to DC to see the new WW2 memorial. He was very much decked out in his gear. (As far as old farts can get at any rate.)

Sometimes the searches are rediculous. If someone is getting on a plane, wearing a t-shirt, shorts and sandals, and DON'T set off the detector, what possible reason is there to be searching them and having them remove their damn slippers? I mean c'mon, is the person hiding RDX in his ass and hoping someone else in a wheel-chair managed to sneak aboard the damn detonator?

The folks at the security gates are going overboard at times.

Conspiracy theorist that I am, I'm sure they search the innapropriate folks on purpose. They want it known that no costume the terrorists dress up in will assure that they don't get searched. It's pointless to limit the search to arab looking people, because not only are terrorists of other ethnicities, but even the arab ones can get a bottle of hair dye and some makeup and slip past the search. Same with dressing up like a frail old person or a pregnant lady.

Is that it's totally random. Out of every, I don't know, 20 people, one or two are randomly red-flagged by a computer for closer scrutinisation. Even if it turns out to be a 90 year old grandmother that's never had a bad thought in her life or a child, they'll search.

And, when there are other reports like this: [link] (.22 cal loaded handgun found in a boy's teddy bear), who can blame them? It's not just what people carry on to airplanes on their own, but what others can slip into their baggage. I doubt the ten your old kid in this case knew he was packing, but I'd hate to think of what the plans were for that pistol once it got on board.

I must be on somebody's shit list. They can't possibly want to be feeling my boobs, they're pretty small. My hypothesis is that my IP got logged for looking at the web site of the School of the America's, the USA's very own terrorist training camp.

That's the problem. They're done at total random, which I suppose is better than them being done to ever Arab, but it sucks that they're done to someone they don't have suspicion of doing it wrong.

Yeah, like that kid.b He was innocent, they obviously shouldn't have searched his belongings.

Sure, he's just an innocent ten year old kid, but how did that gun get in his teddy bear? Do you think he put it there?

The most "innocent" people can also be the most easily duped into carrying a package for someone else, keep that in mind.

It's just a standard operating procedure to do this. Don't like it? Don't want to take the risk of being selected? Don't fly.

If no-one was strip searched you'd lose a lot more planes.

Point taken.

Who would try and feel a pregnant woman's boobs. Seriously standards people. Anyways I hate flying so I avoid this mess. BUt if I was working and the airport security I'd "radomly" check women with nice boobs. But then agian I am all alone.

"I was wearing a pretty form-fitting tank top. There's nothing really to be hiding. You could see my figure. I didn't have any packs. She had patted down my torso. She had completed the torso pat down and wanded me with a security wand but some reason she said she wanted to see my breasts," Kingsford said

form fitting tank top, could see my figure, wanted to see my breasts

I wonder ....

Hvae you seen a pregnant womens breasts? You couls hide Shaq in between those things.

Well I can't make up my mind about this issue. On the one hand it could be good in the fight against terrorism if airlines make a point of summarily throwing out people who won't submit to the TSA authorities. But on the other hand this woman just about flashed them to prove she wasn't hiding anything. It makes sense that she thinks the lack of common sense in the TSA's reaction is a problem too. Terrorists could use that hardheadedness to their advantage if they know how blindly they stick to the policies. It proves they don't do any serious evaluation of who is a threat anyway. I haven't actually flown anywhere since the russian jetliners crashed, but i will be this thanksgiving, so i will find out if the procedure really has gotten more intrusive.

me again

Did you see what the security guard looked like? You tell me...

[link]