If baggage handlers can steal from luggage (which they do) how many bombs can they put on a plane?
Aircraft maintainance technicians - how easy is it for them to partially sever important hydraulic hoses? Supervisors - how easy is it for them to do the same? How easy is it to fill half the fuel tanks with water and the other half with fuel and how far would the plane go before it dropped from the sky? We can't even ensure aircraft safety so passangers carrying bombs is trivial in comparison.
Then let's look further - how easy would it be to fly a small plane from an offshore island to within a short distance of a jumbo then to fire a hand-held surface-air missile from the plane into the jumbo?...Show more →
All that you say is true, however I would pose the same question to you.
How many incidents of airline terrorism have there been because of maintenance technicians or baggage handlers? How many times have jumbo jets been shot down by surface to air missiles?
In contrast how many airliners have been hijacked or otherwise blown up by terrorist passengers?
If it were to easy for the terrorists to infiltrate the technicians or to fire a SAM at a plane, don't you think they would be doing it now?
I'm booked on a flight to London next month, to cover a business conference. On the way in I may be able to carry on my gear, but what the heck do I do now on the way back? Buy good insurance I guess? What if I can't carry on my gear en-route? It's going to be hard to shoot a conference if I don't have any gear!
thedigitalbean wrote:
All that you say is true, however I would pose the same question to you.
How many incidents of airline terrorism have there been because of maintenance technicians or baggage handlers? How many times have jumbo jets been shot down by surface to air missiles?
In contrast how many airliners have been hijacked or otherwise blown up by terrorist passengers?
If it were to easy for the terrorists to infiltrate the technicians or to fire a SAM at a plane, don't you think they would be doing it now?
911 using planes as missiles was a first which had never been done before. Terrorists always look for things that have never been done before.
How easy is it to become a baggage handler? It's as simple as filling in an application form. The same for becoming a steward/stewardess onboard a plane. You undergo a modicum of training and then go live. Let's look at the London underground terrorists - which of them was a suspect? None - they all had solid backgounds.
People whining that workers aren't security checked (they are) are the same kinds of folks complaining on other threads when workers are asked to be part of the security effort and to watch for strange occurances, breaches, etc. Yeah, that whole Big Brother thing kind of sucks, until the planes stay in the air.
And it makes the assumption that thieves aren't patriots, don't fly on the same planes, don't have family and friends on the planes, etc.
The most constructive use of this thread is practical ideas for photographers to get their gear through the system in one piece, accepting the new restrictions for all our safety - rather than the (admittedly intriguing) discussion on how and who can destroy the plane.
The Fedex idea is pretty good - whereas I for one would be less inclined to rent, as one is unlikely to get the exact mix of gear preferred. (although again it's at least a way to get the job done).
Insurance is obvious - but what a hassle if it's needed!!
It is a fact of life that a percentage of hold luggage gets pilfered, but I gather you aren't allowed to lock luggage, or at least if you do you'll find the locks broken at the far end...
The airlines should be pressured to provide a "premium secure" luggage checkin option (at a price), where they take a little more interest in its survival...
But what do you do when traveling with $30K of gear to an underdeveloped country? Fedex or other shipping is not practical. Only 12 days to go and I am getting very nervous this policy may spread to other European airports. What to do, give up the $15K nonrefundable trip?
EB-1 wrote:
But what do you do when traveling with $30K of gear to an underdeveloped country? Fedex or other shipping is not practical. Only 12 days to go and I am getting very nervous this policy may spread to other European airports. What to do, give up the $15K nonrefundable trip?
Pray your trip doesn't go through the UK?
Honestly, I'd look into Fedexing the gear to as close to where you're going as possible. And, reconsider which gear you're going to bring.
I work in the Airport Operations Center in Toronto. I do see the resaons for the limitations at this point, I also see the linitations easing in the near future. I feel that this is a knee jerk reaction till better screening procedures are put in place. OH yea no water bottles or gel type liquids alowed on board from Toronto.
Firing a SAM from a moving light aircraft in to the side of a Jumbo?! Haaaaa! That one's just gold.
And you really believe that you just fill in a form and become a baggage handler? Honestly, tell me, you believe that? Do you know any baggage handlers? Ever applied for a job in the field yourself? You're talking crap.
As for your "I'm looking for ferries to the US" comment a few pages back, ah, jeez, that was priceless. You going to ride the ocean waves for 3 days just to avoid the one in a million chance of something happening to you on an aeroplane? Haven't you heard of icebergs?
In 6 weeks I'm flying from Canada to Spain via Gatwick, for a birding and photo trip. As far as I can make out, at least on the BA leg from Gatwick to Malaga, I'll be restricted to 1 bag, with a max. weight of 50lb. I intend to bring my d70and Tamron 200-500 lens, + binoculars, and pack them carefully in that 1 case (unless they have relaxed carry-on restrictions by then, which seems doubtful). My wife will also have bins in her case, and I'm planning on getting a super-zoom digicam (?Sony DSC-H5) for her to take as well, and which I can use if my case gets rifled or goes missing. The chances of having 2 cases stolen on the same flight should be much less than the chances of either one (I'm not a statistician, but I think square roots are in there somewhere).
I am hoping that if hand-luggage is still banned, then they add the weight of what would have been the hand luggage to the allowable weight of the checked baggage.
I can afford to insure my gear, but I wouldn't want the frustration of 10 days birding in southern Spain and not even take it in the first place!
Any other ideas/ solutions?
Also - unless people are an airline executive or terrorrism expert, can we keep the thread on topic, and leave idle, politcal and racist speculation for elsewhere?
Judging by all the news reports both from the aviation authority and from press releases the ban on all hand luggage will be in place for a long time to come .
Living as i do in the South East and close to Gatwick and Heathrow these restrictions will mean the end of the ''freedom'' we've had up till now with stuff we can pack into overhead lockers .
All you can do is the make sure your valuables are safely secured and insured , not as easy as it sounds i know , but thats the world we live in now .
Just as 9/11 changed America , this will change the face of flying as we know for the foreseeable future .
A few weeks ago the wall street journal reported the some airline companies are start to making profit again, after watching yesterdays news report I think they back to the red again. Air travellers are tire of all that B.S., I don't think I want to go on board if I have to check my Canon gears. Insurance is no good to me if my camera is damaged at my destination.
rkane wrote:
I work in the Airport Operations Center in Toronto. I do see the resaons for the limitations at this point, I also see the linitations easing in the near future. I feel that this is a knee jerk reaction till better screening procedures are put in place. OH yea no water bottles or gel type liquids alowed on board from Toronto.
How are they going to screen for liquid gels, though, other than hand-searches? That's going to be a PAINFULLY slow process.
Rhys wrote:
I'm looking now to see what ferries go between the UK and US. I can't say flying really appeals to me what with baggage theft etc.
Wasn't one of those ferries called Titanic or something?
The baggage theft thing is vastly over-hyped. I've never had any problems, neither do I know anyone else who has. Surely any professional would have their gear properly insured anyway? My cover includes hire of replacement gear in the event of theft, which may be worth investigating for those considering the options.
But inconvenient how these restrictions may be, consider this. If you've got gear insurance and the gear is stolen, it gets replaced. The same isn't true for life insurance ....
