Account of Flying with Firearms

Deviant & Daisy It's always sunny in Philadelphia, but Detriot seems to conceal a few rainclouds.
PHL--> DTW 2010-05-24	DTW --> PHL 2010-05-27

Luggage & Gear
Travel to a corporate speaking event in Michigan had me packing up my 81mm mortar round cases and dropping my H&K USP and Beretta M9 into the luggage, secured with the huge Abloy Puck locks. I've gotten to a point now where those cases suffice entirely as my luggage, with room for clothes, sundries, etc.

Outbound Travel
Travel outbound from PHL on US Air was, as always, as smooth as it gets. Monica checked me in, i signed the declaration forms and said, "So now i head down to Desk 19, right?" Her amusing response was, "How'd you know that?" Even funnier was a comment overheard as we wheeled our luggage cart a few rows down... "Hey, i remember those cases!" one airline staffer called out to a nearby co-worker. We smiled and proceeded to the TSA screening spot.

I laid the cases on the special baggage belt, they went back to the screening area, Monica called out "firearm" through the plastic curtiains, and the TSA gave them immediate attention. Within moments we had a thumbs-up and were on our way. The luggage arrived in Michigan without any difficulty.

Homebound Travel
Sadly, our experience when traveling home from Detriot was not as ideal. We were assisted in by Jerome, who took our locked bags back on the primary belt directly from the check-in desk. He instructed us to "wait for ten minutes out here before going through security." He did ask about whether i was carrying any ammo, i immediately responded that i was but that it was under eleven pounds. Jerome expressed pleasure to be dealing with someone who understood the rules, and i commented, "Yeah, it's not my first time at this rodeo." Laughter all around, we went to find a bench, and waited 15 minutes to be safe.

After proceeding through security and having a pre-flight meal (now we were nearing boarding and over an hour had passed since our check-in) a paged announcement went out calling me back to the ticketing counter. I checked with the gate agent who informed me that the TSA wanted to get into my luggage. This was fifteen minutes from the flight boarding now. What a disgrace.

I thankfully was able to leave all of my belongings with Daisy and proceeded back to the main departure hall. I was met by TSA Officer Mercury (?) who said he "needed the key" to my bags. I responded that this would techincally violate federal policy. He then rudely stated, "Well then your bags actually won't be flying, then." When i asked why, he said that they neede to inspect them.

I asked what could have alerted, given that i travel like this all the time (and the bags' contents were unchanged from my original flight mere days ago) and nothing ever alerts. The TSA Officer said that the metal of the cases causes "all kinds of shielding" that can't be penetrated. "Are you using the latest generation CTX machines?" i asked, indicating that this sort of issue has never been a problem anywhere else. Officer Mercury (after noticing my Secret Service shirt) said yes, they are running CTX 9400s at DTW, and that they always alert on metal cases.

With mere minutes to spare and other events to get to shortly after arriving home, i didn't press the issue. I handed my key to the TSA and made them assure me that the bags' contents would not be disturbed and that the locks would be re-applied properly and completely. The screening took place, fully out of my sight in a nearby room, and i went back to my gate. Thanks to the lack of anything in my pockets i was able to sail through security and still board the plane, just in the nick of time. The flight was incident-free, i slept the whole way, and the luggage arrived in PHL on time. The TSA at DTW thankfully had secured the complicated Abloy padlocks in the proper fasion.

Final Details & Thoughts
Either the TSA's CTX machine in Detroit isn't working properly, or the TSA in Philadelphia is lying about screening bags at all. Either that, or Officer Mercury was just spouting nonsense. What do you think is most likely the truth?

Air Travel Ratings
If you don't have the time or the desire to read the full text of someone's account of air travel, you can simply refer to the rating shown at the conclusion of each portion of that person's journey. The following criteria are used in assigning these ratings...

Four Stars	check-in - no hassle, no delay screening - in full view, lock and unlock yourself luggage - all on time and intact
Three Stars	check-in - some delay or mild hassle screening - somewhat obscured, locking and unlocking yourself or it's done directly in front of you luggage - all on time and intact
Two Stars	check-in - major delay or major hassle screening - in a room or area that you could not enter and could barely observe luggage - luggage opened non-destructively
One Star	check-in - flight missed or passenger delayed from flying, properly packed items denied as luggage screening - luggage unlocked and opened totally in another area fully removed from you luggage - destructive entry into luggage and/or tampering with firearms
Zero Stars	This is a special category for outright theft, loss, or damage of firearms during air travel
half-star results are possible... naturally, they involve partial or mitigated problems that somehow fall in-between the above categories