News TSA Found a Double-Edged Knife Hidden in a Gaming Laptop

[Admin]

TSA agents found a knife affixed inside a laptop going through security at Richmond International Airport in Virginia.

TSA Found a Double-Edged Knife Hidden in a Gaming Laptop : Read more

 

[RichardtST]

That the TSA found something (anything at all) is big news in and of itself!

 

[OMGPWNTIME]

Am I the only one who was literally grossed out by how nasty those fans are?!

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

What I want to know is if this guy was actually planning on doing something with the knife.

"Hold it right there! Well, just a second, I need to get a small screwdriver and pry this laptop apart..."
[Ten minutes later]
"Fear me, I have a double-edged knife and I'm taking you all hostage!"

That knife handle looks like the sort that would be as likely to hurt the user as anyone he actually tried to stab.

 

[RandomWan]

That knife is chincy kind of garbage that you find in dollar stores and vendor stalls that is marketed as a throwing knife. My guess is that the didn't feel comfortable traveling without something and I highly doubt he had any nefarious plans. The TSA does nothing useful that couldn't be achieved with less oppressive and invasive methods that are far more effective.

 

[PlaneInTheSky]

Why would you smuggle a junk knife you can buy anywhere, and risk being arrested. It doesn't even have a handle. Why would you do that.

Why did he even think he could smuggle a giant piece of metal....shaped....like a knife. Airport detectors aren't perfect, but they sure as hell won't miss a knife going through.

Is there something in the water in Williamsburg Va. that makes people do really dumb stuff or something lol, because this story makes no sense.

 

[TechieTwo]

There is no means to know exactly what this asshat was planning unless he tells authorities but I'm glad that the TSA spotted the device and prevented this dude from getting on the plane. You may recall the 911 terrorists used box cutters (razor blades), to slaughter people before eventually killing 3,900 U.S. residents. It only takes one terrorist to kill many.

While TSA screenings are a PITA the world we live in is filled with crazy people. All you need to do is observe the number of loaded guns the TSA removes from carry-on luggage annually.

 

[USAFRet]

You may recall the 911 terrorists used box cutters (razor blades), to slaughter people before eventually killing 3,900 U.S. residents. It only takes one terrorist to kill many.

Different time, different mindset.

The general thought process at the time was to go along with a hijacker until you land somewhere.
It wasn't that they had box cutters.

 

[fireaza]

The laptop contained the latest in cutting-edge technology!

 

[UWguy]

The TSA needs to implement a lifetime flying ban on geniuses like this. There is always greyhound.

 

[-Fran-]

Wait... In the USA it's not mandatory to screen the electronics separately?

All around the world I've been to, you have to place the laptops, tablets and somesuch independently through the scanning machines. It is quite a pain to do, but it is precisely to make these sorts of findings faster and easier.

Well, good thing they found it anyway.

Regards.

 

[GenericUser]

Given how there's no obvious benefit to this, my guess is he wanted to do it just to see if he could get away with it.

 

[DavieKrokkett]

That knife is chincy kind of garbage that you find in dollar stores and vendor stalls that is marketed as a throwing knife. My guess is that the didn't feel comfortable traveling without something and I highly doubt he had any nefarious plans. The TSA does nothing useful that couldn't be achieved with less oppressive and invasive methods that are far more effective.

I never go anywhere without a knife unless I absolutely cannot. What I don't understand is why he didn't just place it in his checked luggage or, if not checking luggage, simply ship it to wherever he was headed? I've done the latter several times, it only costs $10-$15 (USD) and requires just a little bit of planning.

Honestly, though, given the looks of that thing he would have been just as well off getting a $15 gas station knife when he got wherever he was headed and thrown it away when he left.

Wait... In the USA it's not mandatory to screen the electronics separately?



All around the world I've been to, you have to place the laptops, tablets and somesuch independently through the scanning machines. It is quite a pain to do, but it is precisely to make these sorts of findings faster and easier.



Well, good thing they found it anyway.



Regards.

We used to. It was stopped because of how exceedingly rare occurances like this are in the USA and how much it slowed down security screening for no increase in screening effectiveness.

 

[bp_968]

That knife is chincy kind of garbage that you find in dollar stores and vendor stalls that is marketed as a throwing knife. My guess is that the didn't feel comfortable traveling without something and I highly doubt he had any nefarious plans. The TSA does nothing useful that couldn't be achieved with less oppressive and invasive methods that are far more effective.

I agree, though you can just check a bag and put whatever you need in it. I carried my glock on a trip a few years ago. Its honestly a giant PITA though. The thing that surprised me was how the airline and TSA acted about it. I had to carry the gun in case to the counter and they tagged it and tossed it on the belt. Then when i picked it up they just tossed it on the baggage carousel to spin around a unsecured airport area. Anyone could have picked it up. Kinda crazy.

 

[PEnns]

If he had no "nefarious" things on his mind, as some geniuses here claim, why would that idiot go to great lengths to hide it this way and try to smuggle it onboard??

Yes, he could have bought a cheap knife where he's going or stuck it in his checked in luggage.

But some "sharp" minds here think there is nothing wrong with what this guy has done. And I am sure they'd be the first ones to blame the TSA if that guy poked them with that "toy" knife!!!!!

 

[-Fran-]

We used to. It was stopped because of how exceedingly rare occurances like this are in the USA and how much it slowed down security screening for no increase in screening effectiveness.

Isn't the whole point of doing that to stop those exceedingly rare occurrences? To put it differently: you don't care about the 99.9% of people behaving like normal humans, but the 0.1% that can kill and cause harm/damage, no?

As for the weapon itself. Nowadays flights have virtually nothing that can be used as a weapon on board, including cutlery (they got rid of fancy metallic ones ages ago), so having a knife, even a small one like that, can definitely put anyone at a combat advantage and seriously injure or even kill someone*. There's no second readings there and no "good faith". If there's a process to allow "carry" weapons, then they should follow it. When you give an inch in these things, that is when bad things (everyone will regret) will happen.

Regards.

 

[spongiemaster]

Wait... In the USA it's not mandatory to screen the electronics separately?

All around the world I've been to, you have to place the laptops, tablets and somesuch independently through the scanning machines. It is quite a pain to do, but it is precisely to make these sorts of findings faster and easier.

Well, good thing they found it anyway.

Regards.

Depends on the airport. With more advanced scanners, it isn't necessary to separate everything out.

 

[-Fran-]

Depends on the airport. With more advanced scanners, it isn't necessary to separate everything out.

That's a fair point and I agree, but what constitutes an "advanced scanner" nowadays? Aren't they just X-Ray machines in the end? Are they adding more imagery recognition and/or different phase scanning for more material types? Do they close the gap to 0% over missed dangerous items when not separating them?

I guess it comes down to tolerance at the end and that is at each Airport's, within the FAA's regulations, discretion.

Regards.

 

[Math Geek]

I agree, though you can just check a bag and put whatever you need in it. I carried my glock on a trip a few years ago. Its honestly a giant PITA though. The thing that surprised me was how the airline and TSA acted about it. I had to carry the gun in case to the counter and they tagged it and tossed it on the belt. Then when i picked it up they just tossed it on the baggage carousel to spin around a unsecured airport area. Anyone could have picked it up. Kinda crazy.

bunch of years ago, yet still post 9-11 i traveled with about 75 fellow soldiers on a cross country flight. we brought weapons with us (m-16's, 9mm's and a few others) and had them packed securely for checking them in onto the flight. we had inventory paperwork, letter from hq and anything else they needed to check them in. security threw a fit as did TSA that we wanted to check 100 weapons. now we had no ammo and all the bolts for the weapons were packed separately and actually carried with us as carry-on for safety. after a good bit of back and forth and many calls to many higher-ups on both sides, it was decided we could carry them onto the plane ourselves but we could not check them!!

my boss however (brigade cmdr), required us to wait for someone to bring us ammo so we could load them and make sure they were secure. WTF???

dumbest damn thing i have ever seen from the TSA. we were in uniform but can't imagine why they felt better with 75 armed soldiers that were locked and loaded, rather than just checking them onto the plane with all the safe guards we had in place.

the plane was late leaving as they waited for us to get the ammo and hand out all the weapons and such. should have seen the fun looks we got from the rest of the passengers when we all walked on ready for battle.

edit: best part of it was they still made us go through the metal detectors at security checkpoint. LAMO fkn morons

 

[USAFRet]

That's a fair point and I agree, but what constitutes an "advanced scanner" nowadays? Aren't they just X-Ray machines in the end?

Just like the components in your PC, technology has advanced of the last decade or two.

A ray traced scene that used to take literally overnight to render, is now done on the fly at 60 times per second.

I would expect image recognition in these scanners has likewise improved.

 

[spongiemaster]

That's a fair point and I agree, but what constitutes an "advanced scanner" nowadays?
Regards.

These are the scanners at my local airport. Notice how it looks like a jet engine and has RGB lighting? That makes it advanced. We used to have to remove laptops. Now with the RGB lighting scanners, we no longer have to separate everything.

This is what they are actually saying about the scanners:

The advanced technology of these machines uses algorithms to detect weapons, explosives, and any other dangerous items. The device produces 3-D images of items in the carry-on, which allow TSA officers to view and rotate objects without needing to take them out of the bag. Hopefully, it will reduce the need to have a TSA officer sort through the 15 pairs of underwear you packed for a three-day trip to inspect the laptop charger at the bottom of your bag.

 

[-Fran-]

bunch of years ago, yet still post 9-11 i traveled with about 75 fellow soldiers on a cross country flight. we brought weapons with us (m-16's, 9mm's and a few others) and had them packed securely for checking them in onto the flight. we had inventory paperwork, letter from hq and anything else they needed to check them in. security threw a fit as did TSA that we wanted to check 100 weapons. now we had no ammo and all the bolts for the weapons were packed separately and actually carried with us as carry-on for safety. after a good bit of back and forth and many calls to many higher-ups on both sides, it was decided we could carry them onto the plane ourselves but we could not check them!!

my boss however (brigade cmdr), required us to wait for someone to bring us ammo so we could load them and make sure they were secure. WTF???

dumbest damn thing i have ever seen from the TSA. we were in uniform but can't imagine why they felt better with 75 armed soldiers that were locked and loaded, rather than just checking them onto the plane with all the safe guards we had in place.

That's an interesting story. I didn't know the USA Military personnel would use civilian flights when moving in full gear. Thanks for sharing.

Just like the components in your PC, technology has advanced of the last decade or two.

A ray traced scene that used to take literally overnight to render, is now done on the fly at 60 times per second.

I would expect image recognition in these scanners has likewise improved.

I mean, I'm sure it has. Don't get me wrong as I don't mind technology making things simpler and easier for everyone involved in the painful experience that has become being a frequent flyer, but I ask because airports around Europe also sport similar "advanced" machines in most big hubs (UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland do at least), but they all still require you to separate things into different bins. The only exception I know of is the Eurostar train which connects the UK with France, Belgium and The Netherlands. I asked if I had to split the electronics and they said "nah, we don't require it for the train"; I guess because hijacking a train is harder? xD

Regards.

 

[USAFRet]

I mean, I'm sure it has. Don't get me wrong as I don't mind technology making things simpler and easier for everyone involved in the painful experience that has become being a frequent flyer, but I ask because airports around Europe also sport similar "advanced" machines in most big hubs (UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland do at least), but they all still require you to separate things into different bins. The only exception I know of is the Eurostar train which connects the UK with France, Belgium and The Netherlands. I asked if I had to split the electronics and they said "nah, we don't require it for the train"; I guess because hijacking a train is harder? xD

Technology usually changes faster than policy.

 

[alceryes]

About eight years ago I made it through TSA (in NYC no less) with a Gerber multi-tool that had 3 decent-sized knives in it. Totally forgot it was in there.
They found it at the TSA in Miami and I didn't have time to check my laptop bag.

They're supposed to destroy everything they confiscate. I just asked the guy to please not throw it away - someone should make use of it. With the way he was checking it out I'm sure it never got anywhere near the garbage.

 

[brian532]

What I want to know is if this guy was actually planning on doing something with the knife.

"Hold it right there! Well, just a second, I need to get a small screwdriver and pry this laptop apart..."
[Ten minutes later]
"Fear me, I have a double-edged knife and I'm taking you all hostage!"

That knife handle looks like the sort that would be as likely to hurt the user as anyone he actually tried to stab.

This is an idiot response that made 9/11 possible. You think that is how it would go down? He would get his knife out, when the cockpit door opens rush in, stab one pilot in the neck then the other in the chest and try to take over the plane. There are several reasons this would never work but when you go to that much trouble to hide a knife you have something in mind. Seriously, I'm taking you hostage.? Do you really think that is how an attempted takeover will go down these days?