Travel News

Icarus Award: Stalled at Security

Locations in this article:  London, England Madison, WI Portland, OR San Diego, CA

Trouble starts before we get to the gate this weeks. From a nude protester to a celebrity twitter war to a 95-year-old war veteran crying foul play, the TSA has their hands full this week.  We asked Lily J. Kosner to break down this week’s top five airport security flubs. Vote in our poll to select this week’s Icarus Award winner.

Pantless Protest

On Tuesday night, John E. Brennan had enough of the TSA’s harassment, so he decided to harass everyone in his line of sight. At the Portland International Airport, Brennan was pulled over for a security check. Instead of the standard pat down, Brennan stripped nude to show the TSA and all the nearby passengers, including young children, that he had nothing to hid. Brennan refused to put his clothes back on, so police closed two security lanes and then arrested Brennan on charges of disorderly conduct and indecent exposure.

Grandpa’s Got a Gun
This week, Andrew Sadowski, a 71-year-old resident of Oregon, was found in the Palm Springs International Airport with a loaded gun in his briefcase. The .380 caliber-handgun was spotted at a preflight screening. There was no evidence of terrorism, but Sadowski was arrested and booked at the Riverside County Jail on suspicion of unlawful possession of a handgun in a secure area.

Bar Fights Back

Depending on how you look at it, a patdown might be considered a perk of working in airport security? At least that seems to be how supermodel and ex-girlfriend of Leonard DiCaprio Bar Rafaeli feels. Leaving London, the model tweeted out to her 172,000 followers that “I got a security ‘patdown’ by a woman at the airport that made me feel very uncomfortable and left no doubt about her sexual preferences.” It remains unclear which airport she was flying out of, and British security personnel did not tweet back.

What Are You Going to Do? Cry?

Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft released a video this weekend of a woman crying during a patdown last Sunday at the airport in Madison, Wisconsin. The video includes audible sobs during the patdown and then the woman appearing visibly upset after. After countless videos of children and senior citizen, this woman’s experience represents another TSA patdown video to go viral

Dishonoring our Heroes

Retired Air Force Major Omer Petti is speaking out after an incident at the San Diego International Airport. The 95-year-old Petti was traveling with an 85-year-old companion in a wheelchair to accommodate their replaced knees and hips. Though seniors now have a gentler screening process, Petti was asked to empty his pockets for screening. At that time, a money clip containing $300 went missing. Police and TSA paperwork has been filed, but the money has yet to be returned and the issue has not been resolved to Petti’s satisfaction.

Aluminum Lady Sued won last week’s Icarus Award. See more winners and losers in the Icarus Award section, then vote for this week’s worst security slip-up.

[polldaddy poll=”6156471″]

By Lily J. Kosner for PeterGreenberg.com

Related links: Overhead BinUSA TodayNY Daily News, Huffington Post, MSNBC