Angry pilot drops his pants - asks checkpoint staff to "search this"

[Shelly]

by Scott Carmichael Feb 18th 2009 @ 2:30PM
Get this - a pilot for Swiss International Airways decided that enough was
enough at the London City Airport security checkpoint.

Instead of complying with all staff instructions, he dropped his pants and
underwear, completely exposing himself, and asked whether they wanted to
"search this".

I'm not sure what part of being asked to take off his belt and shoes
prompted the outburst, but a source is on record saying nobody understood
why the pilot lost his cool and that he might have been "having a bad day".

His antics meant 37 passengers were delayed for 2 hours while government
staff investigated the matter.

It could have been worse though, the incident happened at the staff-only
checkpoint, so no passengers had to come face to face with the half naked
pilot. Of course, if this happened in the US, they probably would have
emptied the terminal for fear of a terrorist penis attack.

[VOR-DME]

Well come on Bear Bottoms.
This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance.
You're on!!

[DannyDot]

Shelly wrote:
> by Scott Carmichael Feb 18th 2009 @ 2:30PM
> Get this - a pilot for Swiss International Airways decided that enough was
> enough at the London City Airport security checkpoint.
>
> Instead of complying with all staff instructions, he dropped his pants and
> underwear, completely exposing himself, and asked whether they wanted to
> "search this".
>
> I'm not sure what part of being asked to take off his belt and shoes
> prompted the outburst, but a source is on record saying nobody understood
> why the pilot lost his cool and that he might have been "having a bad day".
>
> His antics meant 37 passengers were delayed for 2 hours while government
> staff investigated the matter.
>
> It could have been worse though, the incident happened at the staff-only
> checkpoint, so no passengers had to come face to face with the half naked
> pilot. Of course, if this happened in the US, they probably would have
> emptied the terminal for fear of a terrorist penis attack.
>
>

I don't blame him for being ****ed. Why search him. Are they trying to
prevent him from getting control of an airplane?

I friend of mine could carry a 45 caliber automatic on his plane, but
could carry his tiny swiss army knife. Go figure!!

Danny Deger

[Ron Wanttaja]

DannyDot wrote:

> I don't blame him for being ****ed. Why search him. Are they trying to
> prevent him from getting control of an airplane?

Maybe they're trying to keep him from passing a weapon to someone else
so they could take over some OTHER airliner...?


Ron Wanttaja

[Mike Ash]

In article >,
DannyDot > wrote:

> Shelly wrote:
> > by Scott Carmichael Feb 18th 2009 @ 2:30PM
> > Get this - a pilot for Swiss International Airways decided that enough was
> > enough at the London City Airport security checkpoint.
> >
> > Instead of complying with all staff instructions, he dropped his pants and
> > underwear, completely exposing himself, and asked whether they wanted to
> > "search this".
> >
> > I'm not sure what part of being asked to take off his belt and shoes
> > prompted the outburst, but a source is on record saying nobody understood
> > why the pilot lost his cool and that he might have been "having a bad day".
> >
> > His antics meant 37 passengers were delayed for 2 hours while government
> > staff investigated the matter.
> >
> > It could have been worse though, the incident happened at the staff-only
> > checkpoint, so no passengers had to come face to face with the half naked
> > pilot. Of course, if this happened in the US, they probably would have
> > emptied the terminal for fear of a terrorist penis attack.
>
> I don't blame him for being ****ed. Why search him. Are they trying to
> prevent him from getting control of an airplane?

The reason to search him is so that it doesn't become possible to
smuggle contraband simply by obtaining a uniform and a fake pilot ID.

The airlines (presumably) have stricter controls on their end as to who
gets to actually board their planes, but the security checkpoint guys
don't have access to those systems. Because of that, they can't tell the
difference between an airline pilot and somebody who just has many of
the trappings of one.

I'm not any kind of fan of airport security organizations, but searching
pilots is actually a smart move.

> I friend of mine could carry a 45 caliber automatic on his plane, but
> could carry his tiny swiss army knife. Go figure!!

THIS one is dumb. Obviously if they've decided you're OK to carry a gun
then you should be OK to carry a knife too.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon

[-b-]

It actually happened to me - well, not to drop my britches, but to get run
through the checkpoint in order to get back out to my own airplane! Some
airport authority (not going to say where) decided the only way out to the
tarmac was through the security check. Running my flight bag through the X-Ray,
what do you know they found a bunch of items not normally allowed on planes.(I
don't carry a gun, but I carry more than nail clippers and a toothbrush). So we
sort of looked at one another, and they decided I was not going to cut my own
throat to get control of the plane and fly it to Lebanon, so they reluctantly
let me through.

No big deal - but what I wonder is, since this must happen 20 times a day at
that airport, will they ever get to the point where they decide there's just no
point, and let us through? Probably not . . .