Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

TSA

Don’t Touch The Service Monkey

service monkey

You know I want one.

While some folks get memos at work like this; at the pt job, we’ve been getting memos on “service monkeys”. The gist of the WORD is “NO monkeys in the house, AND if a situation ensues, call security.”

And if you travel with your monkey: From the TSA web-site:

  • Since service monkeys may likely draw attention, the handler will be escorted to the physical inspection area where a table is available for the monkey to sit on. Only the handler will touch or interact with the service monkey.
  • Security Officers have been trained to not touch the service monkey during the screening process.

Earlier coverage of emotional service animals: May 14, 2006 (airlines grapple with demands to seat large dogs and emotional-support goats)

TSA Makes An Ash of Itself

Can’t be too careful I guess. Last week hundreds of travelers were evacuated from the Indianapolis International Airport and had to go through security a second time Friday after an urn with cremated remains was improperly screened, authorities said.

Transportation Security Administration said officials could not locate the passenger to rescreen the urn, so the concourses were evacuated around 6:20 a.m. as a precaution.

The evacuated passengers then went through security screening again and the concourses reopened around 7:35, airport spokeswoman Susan Sullivan said. The incident caused eight flights to be delayed, affecting nearly 700 passengers, but no flights were canceled, she said.

A TSA statement said that passengers may include a crematory container in their carry-on luggage, unless it generates an opaque image during the X-ray that prevents the screener from seeing what is inside. Those urns are not allowed through the checkpoint, the statement said.

Metal urns will generate an opaque image. Materials that can be successfully x-rayed: wood urns, plastic urns, or non-lead lined ceramic cremation urns.

TSA officials are restricted from opening an urn, even at the passenger’s request.