New TSA Rule: No Bombs in Carry-On
The TSA’s “Prohibited Items” list, which has been evolving since 9/11, forbids passengers from bringing certain potentially dangerous objects onto a plane, including axes and hatchets, cattle prods, crowbars, dynamite, fireworks, hand grenades and large bottles of shampoo, but until now, has never specifically prohibited bombs.
WASHINGTON — In light of the failed bombing attempt of a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdan to Detroit on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration has added bombs to its list of items prohibited from all international and domestic air travel.
The TSA’s Prohibited Items list, which has been evolving since 9/11, forbids passengers from bringing certain potentially dangerous objects onto a plane, including axes and hatchets, cattle prods, crowbars, dynamite, fireworks, hand grenades and large bottles of shampoo, but until now, has never specifically prohibited bombs.
“It was an oversight on our part,” admitted a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. “We’ve spent so much time devising a list of the most unusual ways a person could bring down an aircraft, we kind of overlooked the obvious.”
The bomb prohibition will take effect in 2011, to give passengers “a realistic window” in which to become accustomed to the new regulation.
The prohibition covers most kinds of bombs, from the sophisticated, digitally detonated types to the “round, cartoony ones that look like black bowling balls with a rope-like fuse sticking out of them.”
“If the Roadrunner and Coyote happen to board a flight with you,” quipped the spokesperson, “they’ll have to deplane before continuing their antics.”
By informing the public of the new policy, the TSA said it hopes passengers will leave their bombs – and bomb making materials – at home, “so everyone can enjoy a peaceful flight, arriving safely at their respective destinations.”
