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A film crew linked to cable business news channel CNBC was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Thursday after attempting to sneak a fake bomb through airport security.
Seven members of a cable TV crew working for the Endemol Shine Group, which contracts with CNBC, were arrested for the attempt, which the Transportation Security Administration determined was not a threat. According to CBS's New York City local affiliate, the seven suspects told investigators they were part of the "Staten Island Hustle" show.
The prop "had all the markings of an improvised explosive device," according to a TSA spokeswoman.
"At the same time, others in the group covertly filmed the encounter," she added.
Port Authority police said it has charged the seven crew members with conspiracy to create a public alarm, among other charges.
Source: TheHill
(Score: 5, Insightful) by requerdanos on Saturday January 20 2018, @10:17PM (1 child)
You speak as if delayed flights, missed connections, detailed forensic analyses are good, normal, and right. They aren't.
In the old days, pre-2001, you went through "Airport Security."
They x-rayed your stuff, maybe you walked through a metal detector and maybe not, and they used their judgment.
Air travel was 99 and 44/100% safe then, as now.
You might want to sit down if you're standing before reading this: If you had nothing appearing threatening, you passed through without hassle, without antagonism. The "hassle" is not a given. Everyone was on the same team. You were not then, as you are now, automatically assumed to be an airborne suicide bomber just by virtue of purchasing an air ticket, until proven otherwise.
If you had something sharp, explosive, ominous-looking, odd, etc., the airport security folks made a judgment call as to whether you were a threat. Mostly and correctly, their judgment was "no threat." == no hassle. Pass. If you were judged to be a threat, maybe they would take your dangerous stuff and send you through. Only if there was some actual danger to people because of you--these situations existed (but, note, clearly didn't in the case of the TV crew in TFS/TFA)*--would you be arrested and possibly charged. And everyone else would make their flight in any case.
If you had a gun, bazooka, fake bomb, etc, you might or might not miss your flight (everyone else would go right ahead, and the flight would not wait for you). And in the case of that "not a bomb," you would would likely just get a pass and possibly even an apology.
This isn't glib justification, as you claim. It's that I've seen it done both ways, and the current privacy-raping jackbooted-thug way is the wrong one, and the respectful, security-focused old way was much, much better.
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* It boggles my mind that so many, including authorities, miss this salient fact.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Sunday January 21 2018, @08:04AM
This. I used to fly a lot for my job. I would park my car, walk to the terminal, hand in my suitcase at the ticket counter, walk through security without having to wait, and walk onto the plane. One time, when I was running late and basically jogged the whole way, I went from sitting in my car to sitting in the airplane in 20 minutes.
Now you're supposed to show up at the airport at least 90 minutes before your flight, meaning you'd better be parking your car a solid 2 hours before the flight time. If you add up all the hours wasted, you come up with - literally - thousands of lifetimes per year. Really, it's nuts. On top of that, it is entirely clear that the terrorist threat is negligible: just look at those soft targets of thousands of people waiting in security lines.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.