luggage

[happy_face]

Yesterday my other half and I were discussing whether airline/airports scan every single bit of luggage that you have checked in. i said I didn't think so as if you were to hide a weapon in your suitcase you don't have access to it during the flight. But then he said you could put a bomb in and have a remote control on the plane with you.

The thought of that is a bit worrying so does anyone know if they scan?

[chazza]

I seem to remember that all carryon items are scanned before boarding the plane.  Definitely at home they are scanned and  I am pretty sure they are on the way home too

[happy_face]

I don't mean hand luggage, but suitcases which go in the hold

[chazza]

Yep, i am pretty sure they do in case there is something explosive in it, like you say

[BossyBoots]

I watched a documentary where the reporter went undercover working in the security section of the airport, bag checking, etc.  It is absolutely terrifying.  This particular airport allegedly falsified records relating to the number of bags that were searched. 

That reminds me, I think I will go and cancel my flight in December.....

[louadams6]

Im not sure how they work it here but they do scan them in the states, though im not sure if every case is scanned! I brought my laptop back in my suitcase from the states and padlocked the case. When i got home i realised they had ripped the padlock off and searched my case and left a note inside saying they had seen something in the case when they had scanned it and therefore had had to access it. Fair enough i had nothing to hide but a lot of travel insurance companies wont insure your luggage now if it is not padlocked! But thats another question.....!

[louadams6]

p.s. thinking about it last time i flew from gatwick i went to check in my luggage and was sent somewhere else to have my suitcase searched before they checked it in. they were randomly selecting people in the queue therefore not every case was searched so does this tell us a story?

[jno]

they do xray a lot if not all hold luggage and search some, cutting through padlocks etc. But you can get padlocks approved by the US security people, to which they have keys, so they'll do up your luggage again if they've opened it, which is jolly nice of them. See here

[libertie]

Returning from the states earlier this year I was told to leave my luggage unlocked as it would likely be searched after it was x-rayed.  When I collected it at this end I found that it had indeed been searched and then locked using a blue plastic security tag!  I have just returned from Rhodes and all suitcases where x-rayed before the check in!

[ianess]

I have carried a pocket knife for most of my life...it's almost a tool kit/pencil sharpener and most definitely is not a weapon. A policeman friend has told me that because it is a locknife with a 4" blade it is classed as a banned item for which I could be arrested.  I was however horrified, after genuinely forgetting to leave it at home, to be allowed to carry it onto a charter flight from a local airport. Their attitude that I had made a simple mistake and that I "did not look like a terrorist" was to say the least alarming.
On the return trip no checks were made whatsoever so just how seriously do the authorities take the terrorist threat?

[Emily Ball]

A tiny pair of nail scissors were confiscated from the toilet bag in my hand luggage when I took a flight to Berlin in March. (I  had actually forgotten they were there but the xray machine picked them up easily enough from amongst the umpteen and one other things in my holdall). This was at Manchester airport and the I can vouch for the fact that the staff were absolutely thorough. I was  annoyed with myself for overlooking the scissors but I must have been one amongst many because a huge see-through container to one side of the metal-detector contained thousands of confiscated items.