I was flying from LAX to Boston yesterday, with a stop in Phoenix. My laptop's battery doesn't last too long, so I have it set up with an auto adapter and a 12v SLA battery. It looks ghetto, but works great. I have pics on my desktop, but none here. There is one wire that's red and black as opposed to the usual commerical straight black, and the battery itself doesn't look like anything a non-tech-savvy person would recognize. It looked kind of like this:
Ebay link
Anyway, the check-on at LAX was smooth enough, I was pulled aside as expected, it was inspected and they gave me the green light to get on the plane. I did so, and enjoyed the short flight to Phoenix. There was an hour or so between landing and departure so I got off the plane and went to a Burger King to grab something to eat. When I returned, I waited about 20 minutes, when I saw a police officer ride up on a bike and stop at my gate. He talked to the desk guy then went down the jetway. I suspect that they got upset at my bag, so I walk up the desk guy and tell him that if they have a suspicious item, it's probably mine. The guy asked for my last name, I tell him, and he laughs. I give him my seat number and short description of the battery. He hurries down the jetway.
Shortly thereafter, a police officer askes me how my mother is doing and pulls me aside for a chat, where she asks me for some ID. I give it to her. She takes down my info, and then asks about my bag. I told her that it's completely safe, I just hooked up an auto adapter to a sealed battery so I could use my laptop on the long flight. She tells me that she's happy with my explanation and releases me.
I lean on my concrete column for a bit longer. A bomb-sniffing dog arrives. Another officer comes up and repeats pretty much the same procedure as the last one, and tells me that a Bomb Assessment Specialist is inspecting my bag. Some more technicians and officers arrive. There's an announcement over the loudspeaker that a suspicious item was found on the plane, that it's not a bomb, and that it's being inspected. I saw at least 10 guys go in and out of the plane that looked like normal flight attendants, rolling nondescript luggage- I think they were carrying in test equipment, only it had been packed into normal luggage so as not to draw attention to it.
I've seen this tall guy walking up and down the jetway and talking to technicians for a while, and seeming to be in charge. Before long, he walks up to me and asks me to come speak with him. We go to an unoccupied gate where a more serious 'chat' is had- he gets all my ID info, my SS, my destination and where I expect to be for the next 6 months. He then has a guy take notes as he questions me about my battery dealie. He said I 'jury rigged it together', which I objected to, as think I did a pretty good job, safety-wise. It's a very simple device, anyway- only two connections to make. After asking me about the inspection precedure at LAX, he dismisses me and goes back on the plane.
After another 20 minutes or so, an important-looking guy tells me that my battery is wet cell, and that I'm not allowed to have wet-cell batteries on the plane. I'm sure that the battery isn't wet cell, and I tell him as such- he assures me that I'm wrong, and that the battery is being restowed in the cargo bay in a battery box. I ask him what sort of batteries I'm allows to have on the plane, and again he doesn't acknowlege that I've said anything.
About this time, it's 45 minutes after the schedule departure, and another announcement is made regarding how safe the aircraft is, nobody needs to be worried, etc. They say that we can board the plane as soon as all the technicians have left.
During this time, I ask the important looking guy about what sort of batteries I'm allowed to bring, and he just tells me not to bring anything, and reprimands me for wasting resources and scaring everyone. Now, I checked out my setup at LAX, and I called ahead with my airline and the TSA clerk first- they all said it was alright, they even personally inspected the exact battery I was using and told me is way A-OK. I even flew out to LAX from Boston with the same exact setup. No problems.
I don't think that the delay was my fault- If TSA at one airport is going to have a problem with a particular type of battery, then TSA at another airport shouldn't allow it. That kind of thing needs to be standardized. I know it's no hazard to the plane or its occupants. I think that the TSA people went a little overboard with it. Overkill is safety is a good thing- but they could have ascertained that it was safe if they just had a few trained guys down there and gotten me to operate it for them- and it would have taken much less time, and not disturbed anybody's flight plans.
I'm not proud of delaying the plane, and I'm sorry to everybody that I inconvenienced. I do know that there is at least one person who is happy though, his plane came in late and he booked it all the way down from another terminal, suprised to find the plane still here.
Cliffs:
Made battery setup to keep my laptop going on cross-country flights
Flew across country with it once, TSA inspected
Flew back, TSA freaked out when the plane stopped
Bomb dogs and technicians come
Plane held up an hour
TSA people hadn't harassed anyone recently, they were PMSing
146 travellers inconvenienced because the TSA can't standardize
UPDATE 9/19/05
I heard from home today that a stern warning arrived for me via certified mail. These guys really have no idea what is going on.
Ebay link
Anyway, the check-on at LAX was smooth enough, I was pulled aside as expected, it was inspected and they gave me the green light to get on the plane. I did so, and enjoyed the short flight to Phoenix. There was an hour or so between landing and departure so I got off the plane and went to a Burger King to grab something to eat. When I returned, I waited about 20 minutes, when I saw a police officer ride up on a bike and stop at my gate. He talked to the desk guy then went down the jetway. I suspect that they got upset at my bag, so I walk up the desk guy and tell him that if they have a suspicious item, it's probably mine. The guy asked for my last name, I tell him, and he laughs. I give him my seat number and short description of the battery. He hurries down the jetway.
Shortly thereafter, a police officer askes me how my mother is doing and pulls me aside for a chat, where she asks me for some ID. I give it to her. She takes down my info, and then asks about my bag. I told her that it's completely safe, I just hooked up an auto adapter to a sealed battery so I could use my laptop on the long flight. She tells me that she's happy with my explanation and releases me.
I lean on my concrete column for a bit longer. A bomb-sniffing dog arrives. Another officer comes up and repeats pretty much the same procedure as the last one, and tells me that a Bomb Assessment Specialist is inspecting my bag. Some more technicians and officers arrive. There's an announcement over the loudspeaker that a suspicious item was found on the plane, that it's not a bomb, and that it's being inspected. I saw at least 10 guys go in and out of the plane that looked like normal flight attendants, rolling nondescript luggage- I think they were carrying in test equipment, only it had been packed into normal luggage so as not to draw attention to it.
I've seen this tall guy walking up and down the jetway and talking to technicians for a while, and seeming to be in charge. Before long, he walks up to me and asks me to come speak with him. We go to an unoccupied gate where a more serious 'chat' is had- he gets all my ID info, my SS, my destination and where I expect to be for the next 6 months. He then has a guy take notes as he questions me about my battery dealie. He said I 'jury rigged it together', which I objected to, as think I did a pretty good job, safety-wise. It's a very simple device, anyway- only two connections to make. After asking me about the inspection precedure at LAX, he dismisses me and goes back on the plane.
After another 20 minutes or so, an important-looking guy tells me that my battery is wet cell, and that I'm not allowed to have wet-cell batteries on the plane. I'm sure that the battery isn't wet cell, and I tell him as such- he assures me that I'm wrong, and that the battery is being restowed in the cargo bay in a battery box. I ask him what sort of batteries I'm allows to have on the plane, and again he doesn't acknowlege that I've said anything.
About this time, it's 45 minutes after the schedule departure, and another announcement is made regarding how safe the aircraft is, nobody needs to be worried, etc. They say that we can board the plane as soon as all the technicians have left.
During this time, I ask the important looking guy about what sort of batteries I'm allowed to bring, and he just tells me not to bring anything, and reprimands me for wasting resources and scaring everyone. Now, I checked out my setup at LAX, and I called ahead with my airline and the TSA clerk first- they all said it was alright, they even personally inspected the exact battery I was using and told me is way A-OK. I even flew out to LAX from Boston with the same exact setup. No problems.
I don't think that the delay was my fault- If TSA at one airport is going to have a problem with a particular type of battery, then TSA at another airport shouldn't allow it. That kind of thing needs to be standardized. I know it's no hazard to the plane or its occupants. I think that the TSA people went a little overboard with it. Overkill is safety is a good thing- but they could have ascertained that it was safe if they just had a few trained guys down there and gotten me to operate it for them- and it would have taken much less time, and not disturbed anybody's flight plans.
I'm not proud of delaying the plane, and I'm sorry to everybody that I inconvenienced. I do know that there is at least one person who is happy though, his plane came in late and he booked it all the way down from another terminal, suprised to find the plane still here.
Cliffs:
Made battery setup to keep my laptop going on cross-country flights
Flew across country with it once, TSA inspected
Flew back, TSA freaked out when the plane stopped
Bomb dogs and technicians come
Plane held up an hour
TSA people hadn't harassed anyone recently, they were PMSing
146 travellers inconvenienced because the TSA can't standardize
UPDATE 9/19/05
I heard from home today that a stern warning arrived for me via certified mail. These guys really have no idea what is going on.