EVpilot

Here is a good article that appeared on NPR about the possible risks of these scanners.

Scientists Question Safety Of New Airport Scanners : NPR

frieswiththat

We all agree that it's ridiculous to screen a crew member when you've flown the aircraft in, or passed through the same checkpoint hundreds of times, and that we need CrewPASS.

However until the system is changed to be more reasonable and sensible, there are specific procedures and rules in place that everyone has to follow. If you opt-out of the porn machine, you get a pat-down. I absolutely sympathize with the guy, but there's no use in trying to make a political statement over it. Unforunately that method will not produce results in a situation like this. Going through whatever security measures are currently in place is a job requirement.

Bucking Bar

Good post.

The only way it would change is a nationwide suspension of service over the issue. Since our respective unions and associations lack anything remotely like the resolve to lead us into making a genuine political statement, we will continue to line up like sheep.

Hey, repeated exposure to these things is only like a couple of chest x-rays, yearly.

USMCFLYR

Even using the information provided by EVpilot above disputes this comparison.
USMCFLYR

winglet

Fellow aluminum skytube drivers,

Although I can respect the difficult and necessary job the TSA has been tasked with, CrewPass is long overdue. Crew members should not be lumped together in the same threat category as the average passenger.

CrewPass will never get implemented as long as we as a group continue to make life easy for the TSA. Unfortunately, with the way these things go, the only way CrewPass will get support is if we are a consistent pain in their...I mean thorn in their side .

winglet

minitour

Yeah, Crewpass is great.......when your company has CASS. I guess the rest of us are just 'murica hating tearists.

-mini

ChipChelios

"Those willing to give up a little Freedom for a little security get's none and deserves neither"

On the other hand, the airport TSA checkpoint is no place to take a stand! They will scan you, rape you and send your bags to Tehran. Then they will call your boss and get you fired for not liking the treatment.

newarkblows

The TSA has had a decade to fix these rules and procedures. There is absolutely no point or logical reason to screen pilots. We have access to a crash axe, we are at the controls of the airplane, and we have seen the "security" operation from every angle and could figure out a way to defeat it if we were so inclined. The TSA agents, rampers, and gate agents arent screened.

I completely support this pilot. Sure it might have been over the top to refuse the pat down but the whole process is completely assinine. He is a pilot and shouldnt be screened. He became frustrated and finally said no more. ALPA, the XJT pilot group, and every other pilot should have this pilots back. We should have stood up to these policies well before it came to this. We have let this pilot down.

The TSA needs to pull their heads out of their butts and make common sense regulations. They are not going to do it unless someone pressures them which is evidenced by the past decade of increasingly pointless security measures. I hope this guy doesnt become a martyr for the cause but this really needs to happen. Enough is enough

Banja

+1 to that, and we all need to remember we are in a post-9/11 world where the mere existence of the TSA and the security procedures we have in effect are to protect the one place on airport property that should be the MOST secure: the flight deck itself.

In a pre-9/11 world the threat was bombs, now it's the people who attempt to get access to OUR work station. Why are we diligently screening the general public plus flight crews at the security checkpoints while a gate agent is the final authority and last line of defense when it comes to who gets access to the flight deck? I always make a sincere attempt to make sure my ID matches the one on the paperwork the gate agent has, and they SHOULD verify it, but we've all seen them slack off on this.

The real post-9/11 threat is any individual that attempts to get access to the flight deck. A security checkpoint near the airport entrance does little to protect it. Any crazy individual can get past the TSA if they're willing to get "body scanned". It is senseless to screen the flight deck crewmember that has full authority and control over the "flying bombs" we drive every day.

The answer: make CASS mandatory for all pilots that fly transport-category airplanes and implement crewPASS everywhere as a way of verifying a crewmembers credentials. Perhaps crewPASS should also be done at the gate as well. We secretly all know that anyone can make up an ID badge and uniform and make the attempt, and it's all a matter of time before someone does this. It will take that type of a security breach to get the TSA's attention and to fix the broken system.

This pilots story is just another example of how ridiculous the TSA checkpoints really are, and we've all known it for years.

todd1200

Personally, I don't think the body scanners satisfy the requirement to be "no more intrusive or intensive than necessary, in light of current technology, to detect weapons or explosives" in order to qualify as a legal administrative search. They could set a dangerous precedent for further erosion of our 4th amendment rights. Also, if a person does not consent to a search, they have to be allowed to leave the airport freely -- I could be wrong but I don't think you're required to assist law enforcement personnel in filling out their forms.