Airport Security, Transportation And Security Administration | featured news

Nikki Stern lost her husband in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and she doesn't understand why knives would be allowed in airplane cabins 12 years later.

Flight attendants, pilots, federal air marshals and even insurance companies are part of a growing backlash to the Transportation Security Administration's new policy allowing passengers to carry small knives and sports equipment like souvenir baseball bats and golf clubs onto planes.

Some family members of Sept. 11 terror victims are angry over new flight-safety rules that will permit small knives on planes. The head of the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday that air passengers will now be allowed to carry folding knives with blades that are 2.36 inches or less. The rules go into effect next month. They'll also permit souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment. Debra Burlingame says small pocketknives can be just as lethal as the box cutters that are still banned.

A passenger with seven prohibited items in his checked luggage — four pair of brass knuckles, two stun gun flashlights and a sword — was arrested Tuesday at a New York airport.

Isis Brantley, who claims her hair was searched for bombs by the TSA, joins msnbc to discuss the circumstances surrounding the incident. (msnbc tv)

Say goodbye to naked scanner images. The Transportation Security Administration announced Wednesday that it will begin installing software to allow airport scanners to show objects hidden under the clothes of passengers without creating what appears to be a naked digital image of the travelers.

A TSA representative says Mihamae refused to go through passenger screening and argued with agents, when she allegedly grabbed the agent's breast with both hands and refused to let go.

A U.S. appeals court Friday upheld the use of full-body scanners to screen air travelers, but said the Transportation Security Administration should have sought public comment before deploying them.

Officials with the Transportation Security Administration have confirmed a string of security lapses at Newark Liberty International Airport within the past month, the Star-Ledger reports.

Every spring, private security officers at San Francisco International Airport compete in a workplace "March Madness"-style tournament for cash prizes, some as high as $1,500. The games: finding illegal items and explosives in carry-on bags; successfully picking locks on difficult-to-open luggage; and spotting a would-be terrorist (in this case Covenant Aviation Security's president, Gerald L. Berry) on security videos.