Prescription Suitcase

Just came across this article on CNN about remote-controlled toys in carry-on luggage.  The TSA is inspecting such items more closely nowadays because they could potentially be used by a terrorist to detonate explosive devices:

The TSA stopped short of banning the toys in carry-on bags but suggested travelers place them in checked luggage.

“Travelers may encounter additional screening when bringing remote control devices in carry-on baggage,” the TSA said. In addition, anyone carrying such toys, including children, may have to go through secondary screening.

The change was not prompted by any specific intelligence, the TSA said. Instead, it was made in response to July’s National Intelligence Estimate, which concluded the United States will face “a persistent and evolving terrorist threat” in the coming years, and also by generalized threats that noted the use of remote-control toys as detonators.

Authorities allege one of two students arrested in South Carolina in August posted a video on YouTube demonstrating how to use a remote-controlled toy to trigger a bomb.

I don’t want to sound too snarky, since this does seem like something that a creative terrorist could potentially exploit, but it does raise another question: why would any parent allow their kid to bring a remote-controlled toy in their carry-on anyway?  It would drive other people at the airport crazy if the kid was playing with it in the terminal, and I can only imagine the kind of havoc it could generate in flight.  In fact, I’m not even sure a remote-controlled toy would qualify as one of the “approved portable electronic devices” a person could use in flight.

All I know is that I would probably go out of my mind if I was rushing through the terminal trying to make a flight and I had to dodge some kid’s out-of-control toy car or duck to avoid getting beaned by one of those awful RC helicopters.  Let’s face it: getting through a crowded airport terminal is sort of a horizontal giant slalom to begin with, what with all the wheely suitcases, golf cart-like passenger assistance vehicles, strollers, moving sidewalks, escalators, slow walkers, and dead stoppers. (That latter term is what I call those annoying people who stop walking just outside the jetway or in the middle of a crowded terminal to turn on their cell phones, check their tickets, or get their bearings.  You wouldn’t stop your car in the middle of the road, so why not sit down somewhere or at least have the decency to step off to the side and let the other people who actually know where they’re going keep moving?)  The last thing we need is another obstacle on the way to a gate.

Parents, have pity on your fellow travelers: leave the Radio Shack gadgets at home or pack them in your checked luggage as the TSA advises.  Stick to cuddly toys, books, puzzles, iPods, and handheld video games for your child’s in-flight entertainment.  If you can’t do that, at least keep your children from creating a tripping hazard for the rest of us!

More details about the TSA’s new initiative here.