I made a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to El Paso today - with a bag of OM
gear and some film. Here is my report.
I was at the airport 2 and a half hours early, mainly because I was
concerned about some issues with my ticket. It took no time to resolve
those issues, so I had plenty of time before my flight. So, I decided to
try getting through without having my film irradiated.
I extracted my film, a ziplock bag with 4 rolls of TX and 2 of HIE, all in
individual factory boxes, and a sealed pro-pack of Provia 100F, prior to
sending my camera bag through the x-ray machine. I then walked over to the
magmetometer and held out the film to the security checker. I said, "I
request a hand inspection. No x-ray." The checker motioned to put it
through the x-ray machine so I repeated, "I request a hand inspection. No
x-ray," and held out a copy of Part 108 Section 17 Paragraph (e) of the
Federal Aviation Regulations. I'd printed it from the site I posted
yesterday and highlighted the last sentence. She took my film and stopped
to read the regulation as I walked through the magnetrometer, fortunately
without setting it off (a rare event in the American terminals). She then
said that she would have to take me to a supervisor so we walked over to the
end ot the conveyer where I retrieved my camera bag, briefcase, and jacket.
The supervisor started to insist that I had to have the film x-rayed but
when I held firm and pointed to the FAR, she relented and took me to the
American Airlines representative, standing next to the Texas National
Gurdsman at the checkpoint exit. He and I got along fine and he quickly
agreed to a hand inspection. I offered to open the Fuji pro-pack and did,
spilling the canisters out on the table for him to see. No sweat, but we
did then go over to a logbook where my name and flight number were recorded
with his signature, but I was not asked to sign.
In total, it added five minutes to the process and no one behind me was
inconvenienced. The story might be different if the checkpoint was backed
up. I clearly would not have gotten the hand inspection without a copy of
the FAR, since all three individuals that I dealt with read it. I may now
be on a federal watch list, but I don't think so. YMMV. All told, I spent
35 minutes from the remote parking area, through the ticket counter line,
through security check, and to my gate.
Finally, there is a random (or maybe not so random) selection of passengers
at the gate during boarding at DFW. The winners are escorted back to a
nearby table in full view of the rest of the passengers, where they are
asked to completely empty all bags for a hand inspection on a table, and are
frisked and checked with a handheld magnetrometer. I fully expected to be a
winner, but I wasn't selected.
Regards,
Gary Edwards
PS - The Tularosa Basin is full of blowing dust, so no star trail shots
tonight.
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