TSA – Battery Charger Looks Like IED

No, you didn’t read that wrong, the TSA told a passenger that his battery charger “looks like an IED.” Even after he demonstrated it, they still refused to let him go. It took the police to tell the TSA that they were full of hot air. How did it come to this? Go below the fold for the full story.

Always a fan of cool electronics, a kit that uses batteries to produce USB power for recharging gadgets sounds like a great idea. Enter the Minty Boost. Yep, all you get is a kit to build an integrated circuit that will take two 1.5 volt batteries (AAA to D) and convert their power to the same power that comes out of a USB port. The kit is designed for AA batteries so that it will fit in an Altoids gum tin, hence the “Minty” name.

Here’s the Minty Boost as the manufacturer intends the kit to be completed:

As most people are aware, D batteries put out the same voltage as AAA, AA, and C batteries, but last longer. It stands to reason therefore, that someone who wants more run time on a video IPod would attach the circuit board and USB port to a simple battery holder made for two D cells. They might just want to “pot” (encase) the capacitors and resistors and all in epoxy to prevent them from being knocked around. It might look something like this:

Damon Burke was the guy who built the D cell Minty Boost you see above. He flew with it in his carry-on luggage four to six times a month for about a year before he had a run-in with the TSA which he wrote about here.

It seems that no amount of explanation, two passes of swabbed cloth through the explosives detector, and a thorough search of his person and all his posessions (though they forgot to search his carry-on bag) were not enough to get it through the TSA agents heads that it was what he said it was – a battery charger. They also told him that he couldn’t take his laser pointer on board.

When he asked why he couldn’t take his battery charger on the plane, he was told that it “looks like an IED.” Now, I don’t know what training the TSA agents receive, but I don’t think it tells them that a simple USB port with a tiny circuit board that has no explosives as confirmed by the explosives detecting equipment “looks like an IED.” Just what does an IED look like anyway? I don’t think it’s an empty battery holder!

When challenged in the least, the supervisor offers to keep the device and let the guy go on his flight or call the cops. Mr. Burke offers to just take the device and go home, but is told that it is going nowhere and the cops are called.

The cops go through the whole thing all over again to get caught up and ask that Mr. Burke demonstrate the device with his IPod (what a strange concept!). He does so, it does what it’s supposed to, but it’s not quite enough. Thankfully, Mr. Burke also had a USB powered LED flex light for seeing the keyboard of his laptop in the dark. One of the cops asked if it would work with the Minty Boost and tried it – surprise! It worked!!! The cop showed all the TSA people that it did work, and Mr. Burke was allowed to go about his way, but he had to take the batteries out and leave them with security. Why that was, we’ll never know.

What can we learn from this? First, we need to educate and pay our TSA agents better. People with no education or common sense have no business with this level of power in my humble opinion. People worthy of such power and responsibility would likely refuse to work for such low pay.

I’m not usually one to complain about something without suggesting a solution. My solution for the problem without jacking the pay schedule through the roof would be to connect all the different airport screening stations to a central headquarters with high speed, secure data links with video conference capabilities. As someone in the telecommunications industry who holds A+, Network+, Server+, CCNA, MCSE, and MCSE certifications, I can tell you that this would not cost all that much, nor would it be seriously difficult to implement. This way, there would be a cost-efficient way to get to someone with a clue when someone with minimal education thinks an innocuous everyday item is suspicious.

My immediate solution to this problem for myself? I just do my best to think like a TSA screener and put anything I think might be remotely suspicious in my checked luggage. It’s worked so far, but lost luggage is a serious concern and one of the many reasons I choose to drive anywhere within a six hour radius. After all, if I’m going to have to get to the airport three hours before my flight, wait another 30+ minutes to get into the air, another 30+ minutes to get to the gate, and then who knows how long at baggage claim (possibly a long time if luggage is lost), for a total time of 5+ hours, why would I fly?