Breast Searches

There's been a big controversy in the last week in the US about how the new security searches have been overly invasive. Has anyone here suffered this?

I haven't personally had an overly invasive search, but when we flew to the US in june, we had a terrible experience with Air India.  On the way in and out, our luggage had to be gone through a number of times, we were patted down three times.  The worst bit was there were a number of women in full burkhas and they were forced to take off all of their outer layers in front of the whole plane as we waited to board and were patted down.  One woman was wearing a sari underneath and as  they are quite bulky, the security guard was asking her to unwrap it!  It was really sickening and they were so upset.  One of their husbands was trying to reason with the security guards and ask that they be taken aside, like to the restroom to undergo the searches, but the guard wouldn't listen. 

Yet another reason why I won't be visiting the US anytime soon.  A bit over the score, IMO.  And yes, I've read of people being groped in plain sight.  One of the lecturers here, an Irish citizen, recently travelled to NYC for a gig.  On the return trip, one of the fellow musicians was forced to put his fiddle into checked luggage, as security deemed the bow as a potential weapon.  He forgot he had a Swiss Army card thingy that has a small knife.  Yet he passed through 'security' w/o incident.

But women have the right to a) by searched by a female and b) go to a less public place. This is their right!

But women have the right to a) by searched by a female and b) go to a less public place. This is their right!

Why just women?  It's still enough to put me off travelling to the US by plane.  I don't care to be 'patted down' (by anyone) for no other crime than trying to board an aircraft. 

I suppose that women dislike being groped by strange men. My British naturalization just came through and I only have to do the citizenship ceremony. The local council sent me a questionaire for this that asked if I wanted to take an oath or affirmation of allegiance (the oath swears to God, the affirmation doesn't) and if I had a problem if the Lord Mayor's representative shook my hand afterward. Interesting question. I suppose that many Muslim and/or Hindu women probably do not want to touch a strange man, even in a handshake. So you can imagine what it must be liked to felt up by a sex offender in a uniform in public.

anytime i've gotten the pat down it's been from a woman.  and it's been fine.

I suppose that women dislike being groped by strange men. My British naturalization just came through and I only have to do the citizenship ceremony. The local council sent me a questionaire for this that asked if I wanted to take an oath or affirmation of allegiance (the oath swears to God, the affirmation doesn't) and if I had a problem if the Lord Mayor's representative shook my hand afterward. Interesting question. I suppose that many Muslim and/or Hindu women probably do not want to touch a strange man, even in a handshake. So you can imagine what it must be liked to felt up by a sex offender in a uniform in public.

No by that I meant that they should extend the same courtesy to men as well.  Some men might now wish to be 'patted down' by a person of the opposite sex or in public. 

The other bit that I didn't mention is that there was an Air Lingus flight boarding at the same time as my plane and they didn't even search that flight's hand luggage! 

In my opinion, I think that the spectacle of this particular search and other searching techniques is the point.  They have to show that they are "protecting" the passengers from those big bad terrorists (read: Muslims).  There have been numerous cases where knives, etc haven't been caught.

I flew to the States from Manchester two weeks after 9/11.... The guy taking our boarding passes wasn't even looking at them or our passports...

The gate right next to ours was a Pakistani airline and they had 4 armed to the hilt guards. I think it's a bit discriminatory. Just my opinion.

I joked with the lady that patted me down at the gate in Chicago (last year)...I said "can he do it instead"...and motioned to the hottie guard standing near the wall.  She just laughed...

I think for safety we can all put up with a little groping...although I don't agree with what happened to that poor woman in the burka.  I think a little cultural training should be given to those people doing the patting at the airport....

I wonder if they go overboard to be intentionally intimidating. "Tell your friends they will be humiliated too if they come over here." I'm sure there has to be some sort of message they are sending: "We don't want your kind here." If it's not intentional, it certainly is a by-product.

I see the US getting more and more isolationist.

Well, having just flown back from the States, I saw nothing like what you are all reporting either on arrival, or departure. The only thing they did different was make everyone remove their shoes to put them thru the machine when going thru security.  Also, upon arriving, I noticed a couple of British men that I was sitting with on the plane, went thru immigration faster than I did, and I wasn't as far back in the line as they were.  I asked them if they had to do the fingerprint thing, and they said, they did, but that it was quick, and no big deal. I somehow get the feeling that negative incidents tend to get a bit exaggerated as the stories get retold

I was curious last year when - after already passing the security measures at Gatwick to allow me on the trans-atlantic flight - I had to submit to FURTHER security measures upon ARRIVAL in Orlando...I guess the US is so control-happy that it just doesn't trust the security measures of other countries - even ones it's "friendly" with?

Peedal, it's not a US 'security happy' situation with the Orlando airport.  That is just MCO's procedure, and it was like that before 9/11 for international flights. I hate flying into Orlando, they are the only airport that I know of that does security searches upon arrival :/  And after a long transatlantic flight, it's the last thing you want to do.  I will fly to Houston and chill for a few days before ever flying direct to Orlando again. Not fun at all :/

I was home for Thanksgiving and this was all over the news. And not just international flights, but domestic ones as well. The footage that they showed on the news had a female security guard circling around the woman's breast with her hand..I suppose to find anything hidden in a bra? It didnt look too nifty to me...