Air Travel » Air Travel » Confiscating batteries.
Question:
:>>What’s the issue with batteries? I’ve never encountered anything of that :>>nature, thankfully. :>If the batteries are not in the item, the theory is it cannot operate. Very :>easy to make a PDA for example which still works the trigger for a device. Much easier to use a laptop as a trigger. Nobody that I know of has been requested to remove the battery from a laptop. :>It comes down in the end to balancing the risk against the inconvenience. — http://www.dissensoftware.com Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me, you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain. I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems, especially those from irresponsible companies.
Response:
:>>>> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or :>>>> other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked :>>>> luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, :>>>> this is in the Photo newsgroup. :>>> A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery :>>> charger but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they :>>> allow me to use the power outlet in the security screening room to :>>> recharge the battery before they took the charger away). They would not :>>> allow it to travel in checked luggage either, but they did have it (along :>>> with my equally fearsome toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a :>>> couple days later. :>> Excuse my ignorance – but why? What is the security hazard? :>As best I could figure, the hazard was that if they didn’t invent new ways :>to harass me at every turn, I might come back for another visit at some :>future point. You were probably acting like the typical European assh*le visiting Israel. What is the current objection to Jews defending themselves from terrorists? :>(Slightly) more to the point, every time I asked a question like that, I was :>told that they cannot discuss any of their security policies. Why assist the enemy? — http://www.dissensoftware.com Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me, you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain. I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems, especially those from irresponsible companies.
Response:
>>What’s the issue with batteries? I’ve never encountered anything of that >nature, thankfully. > If the batteries are not in the item, the theory is it cannot operate. Very > easy to make a PDA for example which still works the trigger for a device. > It comes down in the end to balancing the risk against the inconvenience.
If they start mucking with camera batteries life will get very difficult. It could put me completely off traveling. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> – > Lansbury > www.uk-air.net > FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup
Response:
>> A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery > charger but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they > allow me to use the power outlet in the security screening room to > recharge the battery before they took the charger away). They would not > allow it to travel in checked luggage either, but they did have it (along > with my equally fearsome toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a > couple days later. > Did they give you a reason for their interest in those items? Just > curious.
Nope – they were pretty chatty in general (I spent several hours with them so there was ample chance to get chummy) but would clam up when I asked anything substantive about the security process itself. miguel — Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu Latest photos: Malaysia, Israel, Palestine, Austria, Thailand
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>Tends to cloud ones judgment a bit, knowing you are responsible if you get it >wrong. Stuff the inconvenience I will always go on the side of safety.
But one does wonder why there are so few anecdotes about how successful all this inconvenience has been in increasing safety. Eventually, I expect we’ll all have to strip off and fly naked, despite the obvious inconvenience, as it will be the only way to guarantee we aren’t carrying any objects that might compromise safety. (We are halfway there with these new body scanners). — Roland Perry
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>>It comes down in the end to balancing the risk against the inconvenience. >And yet those "in power" seem very bad at assessing the inconvenience >factor.
Maybe, but very good at assessing just how much all those people with a first class honours degree in hindsight will come to the fore and be only too willing to point the finger if you get it wrong. Tends to cloud ones judgment a bit, knowing you are responsible if you get it wrong. Stuff the inconvenience I will always go on the side of safety. – Lansbury www.uk-air.net FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or > other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked > luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, > this is in the Photo newsgroup. > A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery charger > but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they allow me to > use the power outlet in the security screening room to recharge the battery > before they took the charger away). They would not allow it to travel in > checked luggage either, but they did have it (along with my equally fearsome > toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a couple days later. > miguel > — > Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu > Latest photos: Malaysia, Israel, Palestine, Austria, Thailand
Did they give you a reason for their interest in those items? Just curious.
Response:
>It comes down in the end to balancing the risk against the inconvenience.
And yet those "in power" seem very bad at assessing the inconvenience factor. If you have a TV remote control in your baggage [yes, I have had one] then the inconvenience of removing the battery is very slight. If you have a PDA whose data is held by a battery (to old or cheap to have flash or HDD storage) then removing that battery is tantamount to criminal damage. — Roland Perry
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>>I dunno, it was mid 90’s and the checking was done in their checkin area >which was a very claustrophobic "cave" inside T3 >Might have been, can’t remember for sure when the company, an outside >contractor not United I should stress, failed the tests. Would have been >97/98ish so might well have been the same lot. This was the pre-checkin >security.
Having looked it up: November 92. (An interesting trip – I flew to Los Angeles to interview Larry Ellison [Oracle] for a glossy magazine; but he changed his plans and flew to London, so we missed one another. Doesn’t feel like 12 years ago.) — Roland Perry
Response:
>What’s the issue with batteries? I’ve never encountered anything of that >nature, thankfully.
If the batteries are not in the item, the theory is it cannot operate. Very easy to make a PDA for example which still works the trigger for a device. It comes down in the end to balancing the risk against the inconvenience. – Lansbury www.uk-air.net FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup
Response:
>I dunno, it was mid 90’s and the checking was done in their checkin area >which was a very claustrophobic "cave" inside T3
Might have been, can’t remember for sure when the company, an outside contractor not United I should stress, failed the tests. Would have been 97/98ish so might well have been the same lot. This was the pre-checkin security. – Lansbury www.uk-air.net FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup
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> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries > for your digital camera, or other devices, > you might want to consider packing them in your > checked luggage. Some reports of batteries being > confiscated in some airports, this is in the Photo > newsgroup.
I have traveled throughout the United States on several air carriers with recharagable batteries in my carry-on luggage. Not once has anyone made the slightest issue of it. I can’t comment about air travel outside the United States though, in that regard.
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> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries > for your digital camera, or other devices, > you might want to consider packing them in your > checked luggage. Some reports of batteries being > confiscated in some airports, this is in the Photo > newsgroup.
Last summer flying back home from MBJ on US Airways I had an unopened package of 8 AA alkaline batteries in my carryon and was told the limit was 6. Had to open it up and give 2 batteries to the security agent before they let me through.
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What’s the issue with batteries? I’ve never encountered anything of that nature, thankfully. ant
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>About four years ago on a trip to Colombia, South America on Avianca >Airlines from Miami I had some loose double A batteries in my checked >baggage.
Hi A few years ago, I passed through Houston on the way to Central America, with quite a lot of spare batteries in my carry-on baggage – we were going for nearly a month and I didn’t want to risk running out of camera batteries/torch batteries/alarm batteries etc. in the middle of the jungle. Presumably because of these batteries, as my rucksack emerged from the X-Ray machine a security guy seized the rucksack, grabbed my shoulder and more or less frog-marched me (protesting) to a table some distance away to be searched. He refused to let me speak; just shouted me down every time I opened my mouth. The reason for my "protests" and attempts to speak was that I had spotted – he obviously hadn’t – that one strap of my rucksack had caught in the workings of the X-Ray machine and was unravelling a strong, thin nylon thread across the airport. As the ensuing chaos spread – just think ten pin bowling alleys – and more and more people tripped over the nylon thread, falling in a heap, my wife quietly pretended I wasn’t with her!!! Eventually, the line snapped, security were happy with the contents of my rucksack and let me continue on my journey. It caused utter and complete chaos for a few minutes though; I don’t think anyone apart from myself – and my wife – knew what had caused it (we both decided a discrete silence would be the best policy). Regards KGB
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|> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or |> other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked |> luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, |> this is in the Photo newsgroup. | |A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery charger |but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they allow me to |use the power outlet in the security screening room to recharge the battery |before they took the charger away). They would not allow it to travel in |checked luggage either, but they did have it (along with my equally fearsome |toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a couple days later. | |miguel Excuse my ignorance – but why? What is the security hazard? Cheers, Alan
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>>Years ago I had my hand luggage subjected to a "random" check by United >at LHR, and they insisted I remove the dry cells from my PDA (in my >pocket) and put them in my checked luggage. >I wonder if that was the company before the one they use now. They were so bad >I don’t think any company has failed random security checks so badly. United >were more or less forced to cancel their contract and employ another company >on the spot.
I dunno, it was mid 90’s and the checking was done in their checkin area which was a very claustrophobic "cave" inside T3. They offered me two alternatives: take out the batteries or don’t fly. I’ve never been able to determine what risk they had in mind or whose authority they were operating under. — Roland Perry
Response:
About four years ago on a trip to Colombia, South America on Avianca Airlines from Miami I had some loose double A batteries in my checked baggage. When it was time to board, my name was called and the gate attendant advised me that I was being denied permission to board the flight because they had apparently X-rayed my checked luggage and detected loose bullets in the luggage. After explaining to her that what they saw on the X-rays were in fact batteries she notified a supervisor who requested that I return back to the baggage check in area. After explaining the circumstances to him he cleared me to fly and I ran back to the gate for my flight. Luckily they delayed the departure long enough for me to return to the gate. My luggage arrived in Colombia two days later and the batteries were still there.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or >> other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked >> luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, >> this is in the Photo newsgroup. > A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery > charger but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they > allow me to use the power outlet in the security screening room to > recharge the battery before they took the charger away). They would not > allow it to travel in checked luggage either, but they did have it (along > with my equally fearsome toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a > couple days later. > Excuse my ignorance – but why? What is the security hazard?
As best I could figure, the hazard was that if they didn’t invent new ways to harass me at every turn, I might come back for another visit at some future point. (Slightly) more to the point, every time I asked a question like that, I was told that they cannot discuss any of their security policies. miguel — Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu Latest photos: Malaysia, Israel, Palestine, Austria, Thailand
Response:
>A few weeks ago at LHR I had my luggage screened before checkin, I was asked >to remove all batteries from the things in my checked luggage and take the >batteries in my hand-luggage. > Were these *all* the batteries (including things like button cells in > watches), just rechargeable ones (such as in a laptop or mobile phone), > or just the dry cells (eg in a Walkman).
All I declared was the AA duracell battery type batteries, I had forgotten about the button cell battery in my little alarm clock.
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>Years ago I had my hand luggage subjected to a "random" check by United >at LHR, and they insisted I remove the dry cells from my PDA (in my >pocket) and put them in my checked luggage.
I wonder if that was the company before the one they use now. They were so bad I don’t think any company has failed random security checks so badly. United were more or less forced to cancel their contract and employ another company on the spot. – Lansbury www.uk-air.net FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup
Response:
> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or > other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked > luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, > this is in the Photo newsgroup.
A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery charger but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they allow me to use the power outlet in the security screening room to recharge the battery before they took the charger away). They would not allow it to travel in checked luggage either, but they did have it (along with my equally fearsome toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a couple days later. miguel — Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu Latest photos: Malaysia, Israel, Palestine, Austria, Thailand
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or > other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked > luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, > this is in the Photo newsgroup. > A few weeks ago, security at Tel Aviv airport confiscated my battery charger > but not the battery that it went with (in fact, I insisted they allow me to > use the power outlet in the security screening room to recharge the battery > before they took the charger away). They would not allow it to travel in > checked luggage either, but they did have it (along with my equally fearsome > toothpaste and deodorant) delivered to my home a couple days later. > miguel
A few weeks ago at LHR I had my luggage screened before checkin, I was asked to remove all batteries from the things in my checked luggage and take the batteries in my hand-luggage.
Response:
>A few weeks ago at LHR I had my luggage screened before checkin, I was asked >to remove all batteries from the things in my checked luggage and take the >batteries in my hand-luggage.
Were these *all* the batteries (including things like button cells in watches), just rechargeable ones (such as in a laptop or mobile phone), or just the dry cells (eg in a Walkman). Years ago I had my hand luggage subjected to a "random" check by United at LHR, and they insisted I remove the dry cells from my PDA (in my pocket) and put them in my checked luggage. This was a brave thing to ask as all the data was then only held by virtue of the backup button cell. Of course, the PDA had all the data in it about my schedule, where I was staying and so on, which was needed in-flight to fill out the immigration slips. As well as being my only "watch" to tell the time, and the device on which I was intending to spend some time writing memos on the journey. So I felt justified in buying replacement dry cells at the airside shop. — Roland Perry
Response:
If you carry spare re-chargeable batteries for your digital camera, or other devices, you might want to consider packing them in your checked luggage. Some reports of batteries being confiscated in some airports, this is in the Photo newsgroup.
no comment untill now