Do airport scanners work?

[Dodsy]

I am beginning to wonder ... are they just wasting our time ? Just go back from a holiday in Greece and only realised when I got home that I had accidentally left a full 750cl bottle of water in my flight bag. Went through the airport security scanner no questions asked ! Also didnt have to remove my shoes in Greece or spain only the UK - shoukdnt there be a consistent set of security rules ?

Oh and I paid £4 each for fast track security at Luton - a quiet day at the airport yet the queue for security was at least 30 mins. The cynic in me says that they only open a few lanes to make some extra £££ from people using the fast track.

[dmitsi]

Greece scanners work, but the Greeks probably don't as much. Came back this summer from Greece, they pulled my bag. I'd left a corkscrew in it. The guy pulled it out, had a look, opened it up, looked at me and put it back in my bag.

Also on the way out the UK metal detectors beeped for the hole my shoelaces go through. Same shoes on the way back from Greece; no beeps.

[Mark.]

Are they plugged in even?

We were at Gozo heliport and the security chappie insisted we walked through the body scanner thing. It was only when I was sitting the other side did I notice the leads coming out of it coiled on the floor next to it.

[DCS01]

Not all countries operate to the same high levels as UK airports do. Can the Greeks afford ( £££'s or what ever they have now) to run anything !!!

[andy_s]

Scanners work fine, people sometimes less so.

[Pulse]

As others have said, it depends on the local rules. When we come back from Amsterdam (Schipol), we never have to take our shoes off or anything like that. Bristol, it's hat off, shoes off, belt off, etc.

[carreauchompeur]

Pulse said:

As others have said, it depends on the local rules. When we come back from Amsterdam (Schipol), we never have to take our shoes off or anything like that. Bristol, it's hat off, shoes off, belt off, etc.

Last time I went through Bristol I got the explosives swab treatment, despite the fact I was lightly armed, with a warrant card around my neck and off to do an extradition

[Pulse]

carreauchompeur said:

Pulse said:

As others have said, it depends on the local rules. When we come back from Amsterdam (Schipol), we never have to take our shoes off or anything like that. Bristol, it's hat off, shoes off, belt off, etc.

Last time I went through Bristol I got the explosives swab treatment, despite the fact I was lightly armed, with a warrant card around my neck and off to do an extradition

We made the mistake of accidentally leaving a bottle of water in our case before... Wow. I won't do that again. Actually, I did... Same treatment!

[Geoff Stilwell]

The simple answer is yes they do...it's the human interface that doesn't always work!!!! I fly to the USA frequently and often find little love letters placed inside my bags from Homeland Security.

[Fas1975]

I find the security at Riyadh's airport especially "special"

[davepoth]

Fas1975 said:

I find the security at Riyadh's airport especially "special"

Not even looking at porn. Bad effort.

[Rostfritt]

andy_s said:

Scanners work fine, people sometimes less so.

It's all theatre, makes us feel safe, but probably wouldn't stop a determined effort. Nobody would dare to scale down any of the pointless increases in security incase the worst happened. The real work is in intelligence, not forcing people to throw away their evian. Interestingly, the 5 inches of metal in my forearm doesn't set off walk through scanners but does set off the wands.

The amount of stuff people get through with though is unreal, I have know people get through with razor blades, scissors, cans of drink, cutlery. The damage you could cause with this kind of stuff is, well pretty much what you could do anywhere, as you will never get to the pilot.

[jamoor]

Fas1975 said:

I find the security at Riyadh's airport especially "special"

I've been through jeddah, they literally couldn't give a fk, to be fair terrorists probably won't terrorise their own

[PatrickOUFC]

I alwys take razor blades in hand luggage - don't think they are illegal to be honest.

[98elise]

I got asked to go through one of those "x-ray" booths a few years back in the States. They spotted a 10c coin (about the size of 1p here) stuck in the bottom of my trouser pocket.

I would say those work just fine.

[Pulse]

PatrickOUFC said:

I alwys take razor blades in hand luggage - don't think they are illegal to be honest.

They aren't.

[Olivero]

Last time I flew to Texas I left a 3 inch locking knife at the bottom of the bag. Went through the X-Ray machine no problem, just couldn't bring on water...