Text 21527, 97 rader
Skriven 2012-02-21 10:20:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: AIR SPEED 248 20221
===========================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 ML> There are two ways that I know of. One, you deliver it to the
 ML> machines, and it is processed while-u-wait. That obtains mostly
 GJ> I have only done that with carry-on luggage.  My checked bags always
 GJ> disappear out the back on the belt conveyor.

 ML> Again, what I said to CT Ruth.

I will look for that comment.
 
 GJ> There is if a suspicious object is seen in the X-ray of the luggage,
 GJ> such as an unknown piece of sealed electronic equipment.  How is the
 GJ> passenger identified, located and brought to the place of
 GJ> interrogation?
 ML> With the greatest of ease, thanks to the miracle of modern
 ML> computerized recordkeeping.

The approximate location should be easy enough, but then s/he has to
be picked out of a crowd of up to 1000.

 ML> Have you ever seen or heard any passengers called for
 GJ> that purpose?

 ML> Passengers are occasionally paged, but I have noticed only one

And what would happen if a truly evil pax didn't answer the call?
Would the ID of everyone in the departure lounge or plane have to be
checked, one by one?  The evil one could hope to escape in the general
confusion, and would have a fair chance of doing so.  Then, when the
suspect wasn't found after the other 999 had been grilled, airport
security staff would go into extreme panic mode.  An alternative
action if there actually was a bomb in the luggage that could be
operated by a cellphone signal would be to set it off then and there,
which would put a critical section of the airport and its staff out of
action for quite a while.  That would be expected to cause even more
confusion, allowing the bomber to wander off, free to try it again.

 ML> who actually answered the call and deplaned for the purpose.
 ML> Turned out to be his electric razor, as he reported as he
 ML> sheepishly made his way back on the plane.

Ha!  I have had a small transistor radio switch itself on when the bag
was bumped, which caused some small, momentary consternation, but that
was in a carry-on, so easily found and turned off.
 
 ML> stuff is supposed to have been positively matched to the traveler
 GJ> That is so that (in theory) a passenger doesn't make off with someone
 GJ> else's luggage from the carousel.

 ML> We're talking about pretravel positive matching. Pax shows ID
 ML> to the desk agent, who tags the bags with labels that correlate
 ML> them to the pax.

I thought that names were not put on bag tags, but I have just checked
an old tag, and found that my surname was given, in very small
letters.  That would make it a bit quicker to identify the name of the
passenger, but s/he would then have to be picked out of the crowd.
 
 ML> As Germany
 GJ> is the most major European country I have not visited (apart from 3
 GJ> hours having a pub lunch in Hamburg between trains), I think I owe it.

 ML> A pub lunch in Hamburg might have been the wurst and best
 ML> introduction to the country. I presume you bowed to local
 ML> mores and customs and partook of the blood of Ritter Johann
 ML> on this occasion?

In fact I drank Czech Budweiser beer with my fish in white sauce.
Near the railway station there was a real, traditional French style
"Pissoir".  Something that I had not seen in France.
 
 GJ> Being blown up while in Lagos is far more likely.
 ML> Being kidnapped and/or robbed is the most likely.
 GJ> Depending on how rich you look.

 ML> In order to get from the airport to town, one has to run a
 ML> gauntlet of potential assailants, who will casually walk in
 ML> front of you brandishing weaponry of the latest and most
 ML> lethal-looking varieties: the road was described to me by a
 ML> US government envoy in the most lurid terms, complete with 
 ML> graphic account of cars looted and burning by the road.
 ML> Apparently you want to be met by a representative of the
 ML> outfit you are working with, equipped preferably with a fast
 ML> but not all that fancy-looking vehicle. Do your business and
 ML> get out of there expeditiously. As I recall, that was the only
 ML> among several exciting cities that he did not wish to revisit.

I have no urge to go there, or even to most other Equatorial or
Southern African destinations.

What will you give up for Lent?

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