Kyle Thornley
Pre-Flight
I had to fly to Albany last week for work, and due to our company policy requiring flight reservations be made 14 days in advance, the possibility of flying myself was non-existant as the reliability of 14 day weather guesses are not in my favor, therefore I had to go commercial.
After a beautiful flight there (figures) and a fine week in upstate NY and an equally perfect flying day home (boy I wish I had flown myself), I arrived at the house and spent a lovely weekend with the family and in true procrastination form left my bag sitting by the front door. Come Monday I had to go back to the grind and that included unpacking the bag. Inside I found a lovely note from the TSA.
It seems that to protect me and my fellow passengers they had to check my bag. During this process, some bags need to be opened and physically inspected and mine was among those selected for just such an inspection. I'm not particularly happy about this, and I really don't see the point, as I think most of what they do is window dressing, however that is not my call and those are the rules, so I am at their mercy.
The thing that got me was at the end of the note they say "If the TSA screener was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the screener may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution."
I didn't have locks on my bag, as there was nothing of any real value in there, but I do go on dive trips quite often, and I have had a dive watch stolen from my bag, so when I go on these trips I do use locks. If the TSA breaks my locks, which they are not responsible for, and my Mares Ruby regulator gets lifted are they responsible for that? I know, its a rhetorical question, it just burns me that they can do whatever they want and I have to accept it. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! Thanks for letting me vent.
After a beautiful flight there (figures) and a fine week in upstate NY and an equally perfect flying day home (boy I wish I had flown myself), I arrived at the house and spent a lovely weekend with the family and in true procrastination form left my bag sitting by the front door. Come Monday I had to go back to the grind and that included unpacking the bag. Inside I found a lovely note from the TSA.
It seems that to protect me and my fellow passengers they had to check my bag. During this process, some bags need to be opened and physically inspected and mine was among those selected for just such an inspection. I'm not particularly happy about this, and I really don't see the point, as I think most of what they do is window dressing, however that is not my call and those are the rules, so I am at their mercy.
The thing that got me was at the end of the note they say "If the TSA screener was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the screener may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution."
I didn't have locks on my bag, as there was nothing of any real value in there, but I do go on dive trips quite often, and I have had a dive watch stolen from my bag, so when I go on these trips I do use locks. If the TSA breaks my locks, which they are not responsible for, and my Mares Ruby regulator gets lifted are they responsible for that? I know, its a rhetorical question, it just burns me that they can do whatever they want and I have to accept it. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! Thanks for letting me vent.