Readers' Comments

Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 18 November 2002

Note: the comments below are the unabridged submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.

From: Dominic
For : Right Of Reply (for publication)
Subj: AU 2 NZ plane security

I was told by a traveller that thew route between NZ and AU
is not considered high risk. Those flying are not
considered too dangerous. He flew from Singapore to New
Zealand and had metal steak knives for cutting his steak.
It was different between London and Singapore: he had
plastic.

Cabin Crew told him that the airline viewed a plane
hijacking in the Pacific Rim area as highly unlikely and
airport security scrutinises Arabic looking passengers more
than European or Asian. And so far, all Arabic passengers
have passed security checks. Most of those flying between
AU and NZ are not Arabic.

That's one likely reason why security is as you had
observed.

Aardvark Responds
That's interesting because when I was flying out of Auckland,
Singapore Airlines was the only one that was x-raying people's
luggage before they even got to the check-in counter. The
other airlines didn't seem to care.




From: Nick
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Re your jet engine part

I do believe they have sniffer dogs sniffing for
explosives.  Possible thats why it was allowed through




From: Christine
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: suitcase goodiies overseas

just this weekend I came back from London and Bangkok with
2 crutches bought in the Uk. Needing to use only one of
them I packed one in the case, send the other by suitcase.
Not a good idea, I had to carry both of them onto the plane
and be 'frisked over' at each point when the crutches
failed the metal detector test. The one in the suitcase
would have been confiscated as would have my suitcase. What
I learnt from this  was a), don't travel either with or
without needed crutches, b). they do not take them apart
for the machines, c). maintain a good homour while trying
to stand unaided as the machine and hands go over the
entire body. And the only one not to look at the said
crutches were the NZ systems.




From: Allister Jenks
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Just maybe?

Has no-one considered that they might have known what it
was?

Those guys must see pretty much everything over the years
and are trained what to look for.

Perhaps, even, the guy reads Aardvark and checked who the
bag belonged to!

Perhaps you should be praising them for NOT causing a
ruckus when none was warranted.

Some people are never satisfied!  ;-)




From: Bede
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: airports

Having just spent the last 35 hours in transit id have to
say yes they do care, i got prescanned at frankfurt, my
luggage got some kind of security seal added at bangcock and
then i had to go trhough metal detectors just to get to the
transit lounge in au.

and then i had to get everything xrayed again just to get
throuh nz customs.im not sure why they didnt check your bag
im assuming if you carried it on the plane they would have
checked it, how ever a large part of security is reading
peoples faces and doing risk analysis,

and white male eldery kiwi who looks a bit eccentric maybe
be given an easier time than say me.

Aardvark Responds
ELDERLY???? Who are you calling elderly? If this zimmer-frame
weren't so hard to get in and out of the car I'd come around
and give you a clip under the ear ya whippersnapper! :-)

Actually, the bag containing my engine components was
checked in at the ticket counter and not carried onboard.
I figured they might disallow it as carry-on baggage
because it might be used as a club. Hell, they won't
let you carry nail files and manicure scissors so what
chance a 1.5Kg length of steel pipe?




From: Michael
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: What's the problem?

They didn't find the bomb that you didn't put onto the airplane.

Next time use ammonium nitrate as a packing material. If
they still don't notice, let us know.

Given that you were suprised that they didn't pull it apart
looking for explosives, wasn't it unwise to use this method
of transporting an item vital for your trip? Wouldn't it
have been more sensible to courier it ahead, so you'd have
time to deal with any delays?

Aardvark Responds
Due to the value of the intellectual property associated
the internal workings of this simple tube, I wanted to make
sure that it travelled with me. And if security is simply
relying on odour sniffing to detected possible dangers
in luggage, why bother to x-ray it at all? -- especially
inlight of the availability of ordorless explosives like Semtex.




From: Gegor Ronald
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Customs inspections

That your "bomb" got through without a fuss is
extraordinary, when I got stopped for a Palm PDA and my
wife for a metal lipstick on a recent flight.

Then again; a work colleague suffers from a serious food
allergy, and always carries a plastic kit with a syringe,
needle, and vials of adrenalin - he went to the UK and back
last Xmas without being asked!

With this sort of inconsistency, even the psychological
value of increased security becomes a joke. I never did
believe that it would have any practical benefit.




From: Ian Orchard
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Leonids

Alas, I don't think I'll be getting up at 2-4am to watch 4 meteors an
hour. Sadly, this looks like our last chance to see them too, the comet's
orbit will have shifted so next time around it will miss Earth's by too
big a margin

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