If you’ve been on an airplane in the last ten years, then the chances are you’re already well aware of some of the rather overzealous restrictions that are being enforced upon air travellers. Mothers forced to prove that baby milk is indeed just that by drinking it is a story we’ve all heard before, but now it seems that the US Transportation Security Administration isn’t content with just making sure liquids are as they appear, anymore.
According to a new report, flights to the United States from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will now be subject to a new screening process following the heightened threat of potential terrorist attacks. The new checks revolve around the everyday technology that we carry around as a matter of course, including the humble smartphone.
The story goes that anyone boarding a flight to the United States will potentially be subject to a check that requires all hardware be fully charged and able to turn on before its owner boards a n airplane. The TSA is apparently concerned that potential explosive devices could be disguised as tablets, smartphones or laptop computers and as a result, will request that the items be powered-on in order to prove they are in fact what they seem to be.
Whether all this will prove a strong enough deterrent, we can only hope, but it goes to show that those wanting to do no harm will stop at nothing to reach their goal. If having to make sure our phones are fully working is the worst of it, then so be it.
Anything unable to be powered on, for whatever reason, will not be allowed to accompany you onto the airplane in question.
Time to start making sure everything’s fully charged before leaving the house, then. Besides, it will save you a hefty amount of embarrassment if you follow the protocol beforehand.
If you don’t happen to have any technology like that on you, then you may still find yourself singled out for special treatment thanks to a renewed focus on shoes, apparently.
We wonder if they’d let us on an airplane barefoot.
If you want to read TSA’s security measures in more detail, then simply hit the source link below.
(Source: TSA)
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