Rest easier: The little one has been
determined not to be a terrorist.
Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the U.S. because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.”
It sounds like a joke, but it’s not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies’ passports and other documents faxed.
Ingrid Sanden’s 1-year-old daughter was stopped in Phoenix before boarding a flight home to Washington at Thanksgiving.
Sarah Zapolsky and her husband had a similar experience last month while departing from Dulles International Airport outside Washington. An airline ticket agent told them their 11-month-old son was on the government list.
They were able to board their flight after ticket agents took a half-hour to fax her son’s passport and fill out paperwork.
The interesting thing is to see how many times such a thing can keep happening without government being able to tweak its own policies:
The TSA has a “passenger ombudsman” who will investigate individual claims from passengers who say they are mistakenly on the lists. TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said 89 children have submitted their names to the ombudsman. Of those, 14 are under the age of 2.
Absolutely Insane. You have to love the blind compliance of Government workers. There is nothing more deadly than a 2 year old and we are lucky they are being kept from own skies.
This situation is completely insane.
1. A highly trained Agent of an American airline is most efficient at matching names on a list. (that was probably a computer match)
2. The Agent showed initiative by following proceedure. (perhaps the agent was just getting back at a supervisor, who would also be highly trained)
3. There’s not a one of these “highly trained” “induhviduals” that have a lick of Common Sense.
I really hope these agents and supervisors are not still on the job. I don’t get that “warm, fuzzy” feeling of safety, when I read about this kind of stupidity.
Nothing compares to the terror of sitting next to a two year-old on a 6-hour flight.
Now if the TSA will just crack down on screaming babies in restaurants. 😉
Yes, but lets be truthful. How many of us on long flights have been seated close to uncotrollable 2 year olds that we wished had been kept on the ground.
Most be even less funny when this happens to be in the same position as an adult.
Must be much harder to get clearance.
they were on CNN one day this week when i saw that i was LMAO i could not believe it.
why are little children on the list when some people who are actually terrorist aren’t
it makes no sense
It also kinda gives the game away to the real terrorists doesn’t it. I mean if you an inant with your name is stopped it would be a good clue not to try flying yourself wouldn’t it?
This whole security shtick is insane. The lunacy isn’t confined to airports. I visited the county courthouse last week to get a copy of my divorce decree. I had to surrender my fingernail clippers at the door. Do these idiots actually think someone is going to charge into a courtroom and threaten a judge with fingernail clippers? In a building with armed ballifs?
“Don’t nobody make a move or the judge gets a manicure!”
I was in Heathrow a couple of days ago heading to the Middle East. Some of those entering the boarding area were pulled out of line and searched.
At one point, they stopped a family and searched the bunch of them while allowing several young single guys to pass right by and board the plane unchecked
Are the security people explicitly told NOT to use their common sense? Seriously, I have to wonder. Do the authorities think randomness keeps us safer than attentiveness by staff?