New air safety rules require console inspection
by Kyle Orland 
{ Aug 7th 2007 at 1:13PM }
Man, going through the airport security process is such a hassle these days. Remove all the metal from your pockets ... take off your shoes ... present your game consoles for inspection. Wait, what was that last one?Yes, as of Saturday new TSA rules require travelers carrying "full-size electronics," including game consoles, to remove them from carry-on bags for a separate X-ray screening. Portable game systems and other small electronics can stay inside your luggage.
TSA spokesperson Jennifer Peppin told The Seattle Times that consoles were being given the same treatment as laptops and video cameras because "these types of devices can resemble components that could be used in explosives." What, and smaller electronics can't? Peppin also told ShackNews that the consoles would not be subject to explosive swab testing or other security measures besides the separate X-ray screening. So don't worry about the residue from that firecracker tying up your flight plans, we suppose.
[Via Gamespot]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AJ @ Aug 7th 2007 11:42AM
This is going to blow, I travel every week for work and have brought my console along with me a number of times. I would think there would be a lot higher risk of consoles being stolen as well during this process. I might leave it in my bag next time I go through security just to see if they enforce this.
zooo @ Aug 7th 2007 12:14PM
I bet Sony/Nintendo/MS is just itching to extend this into seizure of legitimate imports too.
Mr Khan @ Aug 7th 2007 3:36PM
I was thinking along the same lines, but i was wondering about the possibility of them spotting mod-chips, or of the 3 manufacturers reminding them to do so
Also; can X-rays corrupt NAND RAM? (i.e. the kind of memory the Wii uses)
gamernewz @ Aug 7th 2007 1:23PM
You could fit a lot of bomb in a ps3 or 360.
OfficeDude @ Aug 7th 2007 3:06PM
I wonder if the xray can tell if my 360 will get the 3 rings of death?
a robot @ Aug 7th 2007 1:26PM
Why would you carry it on to begin with? A 360 isn't much use on a flight.
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 7th 2007 1:31PM
Because it's likely to get stolen in luggage or they only have carry-on bags. Not everyone is a heavy traveler.
Randy @ Aug 7th 2007 1:33PM
Have you never had your baggage mishandled? You must not fly much. I would not leave a 360, PS2 or PS3 in my luggage if I were taking it with me. At this point, it's just safer and easier to mail your luggage to you with FedEx/UPS/etc and pick it up when you get there.
gamernewz @ Aug 7th 2007 1:33PM
Yeah anybody would look suspect carrying that in a airport.
RanWitScissorz @ Aug 7th 2007 1:32PM
I've been doing this for awhile, got asked to do it a couple of years ago, and since then I always pull out my 360 and laptop and put them in the little push buckets.
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 7th 2007 1:34PM
Hopefully this will stop Sad... uhh the Ira... uhh the the THEY, freaking yodelers... from using the Emotion Engine, Cell chip, or the Hollywood/Gecko motion sensing to create GMD's.
3cubed minus 3squared plus1 @ Aug 7th 2007 1:34PM
I never fly, but if I did, a video game console would be the last thing I brought with me.
A DS should be good enough.
GRANTED @ Aug 7th 2007 1:39PM
this doesn't make sense... no one actually plays their 360 while on an airplane. and they only blow up when powered up. DUH.
OnimushaSoki @ Aug 7th 2007 1:41PM
They've been doing this for years, but it's just now become official? Interesting.
As long as these "search" measures don't break the console or void warranty as a result of searching them... or worse, the investigators checking these consoles don't eff'it up(i.e., scuff, drop, or manhandle it any worse than the average user), I'm fine with it.
Heaven knows the baggage claim handlers translate "fra-gile"(LoL Christmas Story)as "handle with no care".
WiNG @ Aug 7th 2007 1:49PM
I think this is pretty reasonable, considering the size and nature of these things.
I can see it now, a bomb squad slowly taking apart a 360:
SQUAD1: This is unit 1, preparing to disarm. authorization to make primary cut?
HQ: Squad1 you are clear to cut, proceed
SQUAD1: Dammit! The WiFi is activated! It's getting a remote signal!
HQ: Quick, cut the primary detonator!
SQUAD1: OK, we are cutting the green wire.
Time slows down, a single drop of sweat falls to the floor, and on its way, the reflection of a Red Ring of Death glistens in the droplet. A single, unified scream is heard and instantly extinguished, as SQUAD1 is wiped out. SQAUD1 was expecting a normal day of defusing a 360, but they didn't expect that today, THEY would be the ones sent home in a coffin.
FIN
nerrrrrrd @ Aug 7th 2007 1:56PM
the TSA is afraid of the 360 overheating and blowing up planes. Also, the loud fans make the pilots think the engines are malfunctioning.
32_Footsteps @ Aug 7th 2007 2:00PM
Is it reasonable? Has anyone ever shown that you could make a dangerous weapon fit inside the casing of a game console (or laptop, for that matter)? Has anyone ever shown that the x-ray profile of a game console (or, again, laptop) be indistinguishable from that of an explosive device?
If it is reasonable, it should be easy for someone to show proof of this. "Yes, you can make a bomb this size, and it has an x-ray image identical to that of a normal device of this type." I'm not asking for much. I'm just asking for some proof for their paranoia.
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 7th 2007 2:04PM
That's like showing how the Oklahoma City bomber did it. (The news said fertilizer in a truck.)
WiNG @ Aug 7th 2007 2:17PM
here is some proof:
If you opened a 360 and emptied it, could you fit a gun or a grenade in it? Or a small C4 pack? If the answer is yes, (hint: it is), then yes it is reasonable.
Hell just the fact that you could fill it with vials of acid or something. The point isn't will the circuitry look like a bomb, it's "This is a container that might normally go unscrutinized but is large enough to house other things that aren't permitted on planes"
OnimushaSoki @ Aug 7th 2007 2:19PM
Well, there was that shoe-explosive wearing bomber shortly after 9/11... but the ignition of that apparently wouldn't be enough to take down a plane unless properly set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_bomb
If TSA needs to jump on anyone's case, it's the jagoff from the old PSP commercial yelling "CLUSTER BOMB! USE THE CLUSTER BOMB", LoL.
aristokrat @ Aug 7th 2007 2:12PM
Thankfully I'm travelling with my Wii right now. The TSA guys would just laugh and say that there's no way anybody could make a bomb with technology that out-of-date. But what if they see the little key inside? I don't want ICE coming after me!
Though who knows: they took my cinnamon toothpaste yesterday, but didn't take my Arm & Hammer. Seems like they are just trying to agravate me. "Sir, please take each item out of your bag and place it in a separate bin."
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 7th 2007 2:55PM
The duct tape might make them suspicious. After all MacGuyver used it to make or defuse bombs all the time.
Mr Khan @ Aug 7th 2007 3:40PM
Even with the smaller consoles (certainly not the slim PS2, but say the GC or Wii) you could probably dissassemble a handgun to cram in there, as long as you gutted the system
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 7th 2007 3:46PM
Obviously no one remembers Cloak & Dagger hiding the top secret weapon in a game cartridge. Or Home Alone 3 with the secret weapon chip in the remote race car.
Backslash @ Aug 7th 2007 5:30PM
I've never been asked to do that before, and I just got off a plane from Taipei yesterday. :/ How odd.
DeltaOps101 @ Aug 7th 2007 6:03PM
This is new?
About a year ago I took my 360 on a plane and they took it aside and swabbed it for explosives. Then on the way back the guy just said "Oh, it's an Xbox" and waved me through.
This is in no way unreasonable. It's one of the first logical things that's required to be inspect, instead of water bottles and toothpaste.
ZippyDSMlee @ Aug 7th 2007 6:39PM
sadly if you are flying and "poor" you are better off to UPS your console and stuff to where you are going,flights tend to lose stuff and tis not worth the hassle of it.
plus if UPS loses it you can at least file a insurance claim.