Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 488 posts

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#231

Post by chrismcb »

molmalo wrote: post #222
hn_lurker45 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Liquids are already banned to a large extent. You have to buy it inside the terminal after you get security clearance.

In most of the airports (if not all) that I have been lately, there are water refilling stations, usually close to the restrooms or after you pass through the security checkpoint. I usually pass security with my plastic bottle empty, and then refill it with those machines.

This is fine for domestic travel, but not nessesarily for travel to the US. Many of these flights have additional security at the gate just prior to boarding. US is way too paranoid

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#232

Post by pfarnsworth »

maxxxxx wrote: post #25

When I came to the US in 2000 it was a fairly optimistic and happy place. Now when I read stuff like this I always get reminded how this country went from pretty open to being scared, irrational and mean in the last 15 or so years.

Let's be honest here. Osama Bin Laden won. The US as we knew it pre-911 doesn't exist anymore. He caused it, but the worst thing about it is that we did it to ourselves. First Bush, then Obama and now Trump is putting the nail in the coffin.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#233

Post by rebootthesystem »

Reminds me of something from about fifteen years ago.

I was training getting into R/C helicopters. No, not the toys they sell at the mall but the more sophisticated models flown by R/C pilots. Needless to say, they are not easy to fly. Even with twenty years experience flying R/C airplanes of all kinds I had to start from scratch.

R/C heli's can be very expensive to crash. A set of carbon fiber rotors and related mechanics will easily set you back well of $200. I was intent on learning without crashing. How? Use an R/C flight simulator and log hundreds of hours before flying the real thing.

I was flying back and forth to Europe a bunch during that time. It was only logical to take my flight simulator with me and practice during the long flight. That meant my laptop along with a special full size R/C controller with a USB cord instead of the antenna.

This rig always called attention to itself and was a pretty good conversation starter. I always had to explain what it was while going through security. On two flight the pilot came over to my seat to check out what I was doing. In both cases they asked to see if they could fly the simulated heli. And, sorry to say, in both cases they failed miserably. It was a great way to get 16+ hours of practice.

Not sure I could do that today.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#235

Post by sjf »

gervase wrote: post #184
jacquesm wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Millimeter scans only happen in US airports -- they're banned in Europe and not really used anywhere else. were . https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/04/19/bodyscanners-zo-gaat-he...

I can say that I was required to use one to get back into the U.S. while transiting through Schiphol back in October 2013. No opt out, just the scanner and "I'm not forcing you to fly today - you can stay here." Pretty rude, too. Since then, I always transit through Heathrow. It's a logistical nightmare with all those buses, but they've never coerced me to go through a scanner. Those biometric checkpoints, on the oth…

I don't know why you say that, while there are not scanners on every security lane at Heathrow they _cannot_ be refused, there is no pat-down alternative like in the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/26/new-body-scanners...

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#236

Post by vacri »

zer0t3ch wrote: post #140
charlieegan3 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always liked to point "we live in a dangerous world now" folks here: http://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/paperdownload/manu... - in particular the graph on the third page.

How the hell would they get accurate crime stats from 1200? A year so long ago that I feel the need to suffix it with "AD".

Homicides are easy to document, and those are the stats used in the graphs. It's other crimes that are difficult to compare.

Find an old source saying "Blimey, we hath hadd 200 of thee black cryme of murder thys annus!" and cross-reference it against recorded population at the time, and there's your homicide rate.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#237

Post by abandonliberty »

KirinDave wrote: post #199

I see many people here trying to puzzle out why electronics are under a partial ban from cabins but not from checked baggage . It's a good question, since if there is a fire or explosion hazard on a plane the last place you want it is wrapped in a wad of flammable cloth and synthetics, even if it is oxygen starved. The only motivation I can imagine is: They want these devices in checked luggage because checked luggag…

>I'm going to start putting a USB nuke stick in my luggage in an envelope. Just for fun. Maybe I'll label the envelope something nonsensical like "12-16" just to make sure people know it's useless.

I love the idea but I can't help but think that even with a completely airtight reason to be traveling with that item (e.g. you're a security researcher) you would be accused of terrorism. Somehow.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#238

Post by tacticus »

notliketherest wrote: post #119

likely Homeland Security wants to be able to search the contents of the laptops - easier to do this when they're checked.

It's probably a new variant of civil forfeiture for the TSA. They just claim you never checked it when grabbing it.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#239

Post by vacri »

yodon wrote: post #113
bobwaycott wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nearly 36 here, and I concur. Everyone's been clothed in fear ever since.

Those of us who are 50+ remember The threat of nuclear war, and 60+ remember the reality of the Cuban Missile Crisis. When you've lived through "100 Million people could die in the next 24 hours" (like was a real possibility during the Cuban Missile Crisis), the current threat level just makes people look like panicked children.

mid-40s here, and I remember growing up under the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction. "a terrorist might get a small pocket of us" as a national fear is small-fry compared to "a superpower might lay permanent waste to our entire country"...

... and while terrorist strikes do happen and nuclear war doesn't, the fear of terrorist strikes is much greater than the danger they represent.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#240

Post by mbreese »

et-al wrote: post #217
jpatokal wrote: post #133

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference. In 2016 , the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle. Meanwhile, Tu…

It sounds like you were on a fairly old United plane (CRTs in the aisle). While there are newer planes with seat-back screens, their newest planes eschew any sort of seat-back entertainment completely. At least on domestic flights, it's been a while since I've flown internationally.

This is a deliberate decision that airlines are starting to make. If most passengers are bringing a wifi-capable device (ipad, phone, etc), then why go to the extra expense (and weight) to support seat-back screens?

Now, my main experience with this has been flying within the US where none of the newest planes have screens. Internationally, there may still be screens included in newer planes, but when screens = weight, and weight = $$$, it's not surprising that they are getting removed. Moreover, screens = depth, which when removed can make room for more rows, which means more money.

If this electronics ban takes hold though, I'd expect for there to be a big rethink about this.

Post reply on HN