TSA : YOUR ATTITUDE HAS BEEN NOTICED

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Transportation Security Administration has opened an investigation targeting John Tyner, the Oceanside man who left Lindbergh Field under duress on Saturday morning after refusing to undertake a full body scan.

Tyner recorded the half-hour long encounter on his cell phone and later posted it to his personal blog, along with an extensive account of the incident. The blog went viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of readers and thousands of comments.

Michael J. Aguilar, chief of the TSA office in San Diego, called a news conference at the airport Monday afternoon to announce the probe. He said the investigation could lead to prosecution and civil penalties of up to $11,000.

TSA agents had told Tyner on Saturday that he could be fined up to $10,000.

"That's the old fine," Aguilar said. "It has been increased."

Tyner's stand tapped into an undercurrent of resentment toward the TSA and how security checks are conducted at the nation's airports.

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• John Tyner, the young man who resisted the TSA's groin-grope, will now be probed. (althouse.blogspot.com)

UPDATE:

'Naked' scanners fooled by creased clothing
Controversial "naked" body scanners currently being tested at Hamburg's airport are constantly malfunctioning due to folds in passengers' clothing, broadcaster NDR reported on Tuesday.
The public radio station said the trial of the body imaging security scanners has been plagued by serious problems. The units, which have been in use since September, are apparently unable to tell the difference between foreign objects and such things like pleated clothing.

The scanners use millimetre-wave technology to produce outline images of bodies, with each scan lasting less than three seconds.

While some passengers are being asked to remove thicker clothes such as jumpers, NDR reported that the devices are regularly malfunctioning due to creases in lighter clothes such as blouses and skirts.

Although use of the scanners remains optional, every passenger must now also be patted down and pass through a metal detector, whether or not they have been scanned.

The extra security checks are causing delays, resulting in longer lines and irritated passengers.