‘I didn’t know that was in there!’ is kinda like ‘the dog ate my homework’ when it comes to viable excuses. But TSA agents at Boston’s Logan Airport may have found one of the few times someone *literally* didn’t know that was ‘in there.’
On April 5th, a traveler from Massachusetts was being screened. When agents scanned his cane, they found a ‘possible sword’ inside of a walking cane. “When questioned, the passenger … stated that he bought the cane not knowing it had a sword inside,” the TSA said in a statement, via Nexstar.
The Massachusetts State Police were on the scene within minutes, where the New York-bound commuter surrendered the item. He was screened again, and was able to catch his flight to JFK airport.
In speaking with a representative for the TSA, Nexstar confirmed “In [that] instance, as in most other instances, the traveler voluntarily surrendered the item to a TSA officer and was then able to complete screening and catch their flight.”
They also established items concealing weapons are “not uncommon” at checkpoints.
For example- earlier today, an official spokesperson for the TSA tweeted an image of a hairbrush with a dagger hidden inside. That item comes courtesy of the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport. “Being well groomed and well armed are two very different things. TSA has no issue with travelers bringing hairbrushes through a checkpoint, just not ones that conceal daggers as part of the brush handle! This one detected yesterday at the @FLYIthaca checkpoint.”
While the tweet is phrased in a humorous way, it does highlight a real and common issue. It’s not even like the TSA asks you to never bring these items on a plane. All they ask is for these items to be packed safely within checked baggage.
A list of what you can and cannot bring onto a plane can be found here.
