Any trouble at airports?

clemen2

Hi,

I'm a biologist headed to SA to do some bat research.· I need to take a variety of lab built electronics.· Basically small project boxes with LCD displays and buttons.· Inside the electronics has a 'improvised' look to it, lots of wires and electrical components, typical prototype stuff to us but maybe odd to others.· On the plus side there is nothing that could be seen as an explosive.

So what experience have you had getting through airport TSA checkpoints with this kind of stuff?· I called TSA and they said no problem it would be processed like any electronics, but I would hate to be knock off my flight because the stuff looked odd to·a TSA agent.·


Thanks·

Mike Green

Some people have had problems. I would suggest that you allow a lot of extra time, call a supervisor at your local airport and ask for specific suggestions to help with clearing the checkpoints, offer to come early for hand inspection, offer to bring some specific identification about your credentials and the research project and see if there's something specific there that would help. I would not trust someone at TSA saying there would be no problem since the level of training and experience varies depending on the airport and variety of material they actually see commonly.

Let us know how things go.

Tracy Allen

I've never had any serous problem. At some SA airports they will be more concerned that you are sneaking in dutiable goods, so you may have to convince them that you plan to take the devices back with you. If your language skills are not too great, it can really help to have someone there from a research institute or agency who can vouch for the legitimacy of the work or wave around some official looking cards. Mike is spot on about allowing extra time, but I don't know if I would want to offer to submit to special hand inspections. That might open a real can of worms. Do carry complete documentation for your homemade stuff, with a photo and an exectutive summary on top. Documentation can work wonders.

On returning from a trip, I got pulled up at agriculture, but not for the electronic equipment in my bags. I'd purchased yogurt in a package that looked like a sausage, and they read me the riot act on bringing in meat without a permit and opened the bag and rummaged past my electronic gear to find it. The yogurt was no problem.

Don't carry any live bats!

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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com

steve_b

I've taken odd tools/gadgets back and forth in the past (post-911 though) and if they're concerned, they'll swab it with their bomb-sniffing computer gizmo.

otherwise, just had to make sure it was off during take-off/landing..

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<FONT>Steve



What's the best thing to do in a lightning storm? "take a one iron out the bag and hold it straight up above your head, even God cant hit a one iron!"
Lee Travino after the second time being hit by lightning!

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Tracy,

Your exhortation against live bats suggests experience with live bats — or at least second-hand knowledge. You've just got to tell us about it!

-Phil

Tracy Allen

Not personally, but one of my colleagues a few years ago pre911 arrived at the xray with a box containing about 50 live bumblebees. She didn't want them xrayed, so she asked to carry them through by hand. That sure set off the excitement. Imagine snakes on planes. She had to make other arrangements. She had to take a later plane and sent the bees by Fed Ex overnight. Incoginto, that too was doubtless a no-no. Apparently the driver came and the first thing he did was toss the oversize lightweight box up in the air and spin it, but luckily he didn't notice the muffled buzzing from inside when he caught it.

One guy I work with was with the Dept. of Health and an expert of rabies, especially in bats and skunks, and he is full of wild stories. I've made electronic gadgets for him, like SX-based ultrasound generators that he uses with his special traps for capturing rabid bats. He told me a story from his student days when he was collecting specimens in northern Mexico, and caught a rattlesnake and put it lve in a bag, thinking he was going to have it for dinner. (Yes.) He hung the bag from the ceiling in his van. He forgot about it until he was at US customs at the TX border, and the agent reached toward the bag to question what is was. I couldn't tell the story at that point as well as he, but the upshot was a rattling and dinner back in Mexico.

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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com