I learned about this story today from Big Boy in the Morning on Power 106. As Big Boy and Jeff Garcia suggested, if you want to take more than 3 ounces of liquid onto your flight, give it to your monkey?
Man smuggles monkey onto NYC-bound plane, AP.
A man smuggled a monkey onto an airplane Tuesday, stashing the furry fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said. The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell. After landing Tuesday morning, the man waited several hours before catching a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport.
During the flight, people around the man noticed that the marmoset, which normally lives in forests and eats fruit and insects, had emerged from underneath his hat, Russell said.
"Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him," she said.
The monkey spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and behaved well, said Russell, who didn't know how it skirted customs and security...
I can't imagine a monkey got past security. It boggles the mind. Maybe the TSA agents were distracted by a pair of flip flops or a suspicious tube of Preparation H.
In case you're not feeling safer yet, here are the New Policies for Lighters, Electronics, and Breast Milk.
In an effort to concentrate resources on detecting explosive threats, TSA will no longer ban common lighters in carry-on luggage as of August 4, 2007...
Q. Are lighters not a threat anymore?
A. Lighters are not a serious threat. Lifting the ban is a common sense, risk-based security decision. This change allows officers to focus on finding explosives and IED components.
What about the liquids?
Q. Does your lighter need to be in a baggie since it contains liquid?
A. No. TSA's common-sense approach harmonizes with worldwide standards for lighters.
Common sense. Ha! But what about the worldwide standards for liquids?
Q. Why is breast milk not a threat?
A. Breast milk is a medical necessity and it is being classified as such. It must be declared at the checkpoint.
Q. How do you ensure liquid explosives disguised as breast milk or medications are not brought through the checkpoint?
A. Since September 2006, certain liquid medications have been permitted at the checkpoint as long as they are declared to security officers and are subject to additional screening.
Why can't the agents do additional screening on my Aquafina so I don't have to spend $2.75 on a bottle of water?
To recap: Monkeys and lighters? Okay! Frappuccinos? No.
