Dropped scissors causes chaos at Naha Airport

I for one, am kinda getting the feeling that airport security is a bit too lax.

Didn't that flight originate in China?

Dropped scissors causes chaos at Naha Airport

Depends upon who you talked to. The security folks did their jobs and it was done in an orderly manner. Sure many people were unaware at the time what was going on but it certainly wasn't chaotic.

Despite the fact that the flight had landed without incident and the passengers had disembarked, airport security officials decided to try to locate the woman, Fuji reported.

drill, most probably.

No, it was a Jetstar flight from Narita to Naha.

A SCISSORS! RUN FOR THE HILLS!

But seriously. sometimes security does a bit far.

A SCISSORS! RUN FOR THE HILLS! But seriously. sometimes security does a bit far.

Until those same scissors are stuck in the neck of your pilot. According to news reports what the security folk thought they saw were some pretty big shears worthy of the alert.

Better safe than sorry. As it is Japanese security procedures are pretty lax imo compared to other countries and a scare like this is good and hopefully reminds folks that there are nuts out there that would like nothing better than to get their faces or "cause" on the news.

Ludicrous overreaction, nothing to do with hijacking or inflight "terror". Those same scissors are in regular use in all the offices, restaurants and kiosks throughout the airport. This is the absurd creep of the modern "security" state. As long as one person says "What about THE TERRORISTS" or "what about THE CHILDREN" or "DANGEROUS STABBING WEAPON", nobody can reasonably resist the most ridiculous, ineffective, intrusive and abusive regulation for mindless security apparatus to enforce on the bleating lambs.

**http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/tsa-screeners-accused-taking-bribes-allow-drugs-past-lax-checkpoints-735608

http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/dozens-tsa-workers-fired-suspended-screening-violations-812747

http://airnation.net/2012/03/14/tsa-is-useless-claims-expert/**

This is just to show how airport security is becoming more lax. I heard stories from ex TSA workers that always had to look busy and look like they are really looking for something, even if there is nothing or they do find something no matter if it is a marshmallow just over do it, over look to the point of at least in the travelers eyes overdoing their jobs, but in actuality, many of them don't look for the real serious or important things or pay attention to more serious details and often let things slip by. Many of these employees are lazy, have bad attitudes, don't care and are just there to pick up a pay check. Now its scissors, but I think that this is just a small, small tip of the iceberg on a lot more things that get through to the screeners.

I'm very surprised she made it on to the flight in Narita with scissors in her bag. Surely someone there deserves to have their wrist slapped.

Now its scissors, but I think that this is just a small, small tip of the iceberg on a lot more things that get through to the screeners.

It's not TSA here. In Japan the security screeners at Naha airport are for the most part part time employees with a lot of young late teenagers early twenties under-educated types. Sure mistakes get made, they are human too, but better safe than sorry is appropriate too.

Hahaha, the security guard gave back the pair of scissors, that fact was so Japanese. I love it! I guess it was followed by a "sumimasen". Most likely the "weapon" was carried by an obachan that had no idea it was not allowed and had no idea the scissors she had been looking for for the last month was right there, in her purse.

Lemmings.

Keeping "a large number of people in a confined space" is probably more dangerous than having someone on the loose with a pair of scissors.

Stupid people trying to do their jobs and failing

I once had my foldable scissors taken away as it went through x-rays at Hong Kong airport. The blade was only an inch or two long, and folded-up, they even noticed it. I had forgotten to put it in my suitcase. Fast forward to my domestic travels in Japan. I don't bother putting them in my suitcase. You don't need to take out liquids. Just because it's a domestic flight doesn't make it any safer.

On the other hand, some idiot ojisan at Narita trying to act tough took a dislike to my taking a plastic dagger (half an inch long!) which was part of a toy model kit for children. When I said I didn't have a knife he thought I was lying. God I'd loved to have given him a slap.

Go into the restricted area, and you can buy bottles of alcohol at the duty free. On the plane, you can smash it and use it as a weapon. Can these idiots get their priorities right?

Seems like someone one step up in the rankings second guessing the instincts of the seurity guard. The scissors 'might' be longer than allowed, but then again might just as well not be. Timing is everything.

To avoid setting off a panic the next time I go through Narita, I think I'll leave my nostril hair clipper at home...

Lady had a wig that is why she can't be located after flight. Possibly she was just testing airport security.

LOL

An airport security officer handed the scissors back to the passenger, who was allowed to proceed. However, following the sighting, it was decided that the scissors may have exceeded the six-centimeter blade length restriction.

LOL

However, following the sighting, it was decided that the scissors may have exceeded the six-centimeter blade length restriction.

LOL

Passengers were then rounded up in the lobby, causing overcrowding and flight delays on several routes for up to three hours while a second round of security checks was organized, but the woman was not found.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!

Actually, there was a domestic hijacking (well on the runway, so ersatz hijacking) here by an oyaji with scissors. Around 400 people on a 747 sitting there and getting bladder infections while a disgruntled 50 yr old had his 15 minutes of fame. I think it lasted like 7 hours or something. Just kept thinking is there no one who practices aikido, karate or judo on that flight? This was pre-9/11 so some passivity is understood.

All of that for a pair of scissors. . . . . Preposterous!

I think that the levels of panic and excessive security at airports are getting too much. i hear that there may be a move towarsds relaxing these in some countries. about time. and why people would panic because of a pair of scissors is also beyond me.

Carrying a Blade that is longer than 6cm is ILLEGAL in Japan. You can't even carry a snap-off blade/Box-cutter.

Legal issue as well as an airport security one.

Knee-jerk paranoia.

Isnt it common knowlege that you cant bring blades/scissors/lighters etc on a plane? Why did she have them in the first place? Who takes scissors on a holiday?

People should know the rule by now of course. But as for why people would bring scissors on holiday, I used to do it all the time before security theater began. In those days I was cutting my own hair weekly. I did the back with electric clippers, but used longish hairdresser-type scissors to do the front and sides. I also knew artists and creative people who traveled with their own implements, including scissors. And, I sometimes brought scissors along with me on business trips. If I were traveling on a longer holiday with children, I might bring all their scissors too. Those days are gone of course.

One more thing about "Who takes scissors on holiday?"...it might have been a flip comment, but the saddest feeling I get about the creeping security, surveillance and enforcement apparatus and what it means for civil liberty, privacy and humans in general is when people scoff and say something like "who would ever even want to XYZ anyway?!" as if the now-prohibited act itself is foolish or beyond reasonable imagining. The list of harmless things that people used to be able to do without being arrested or finked on is getting longer and longer. The chilling effects resulting from this are real and deplorable. If your eyes are closed, or you're too young to have ever lived another way, then you're likely to accept it at face-value. Historically, this has been a bad road to go down.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Will the staff member that gave her back the deadly scissors face any disciplinary action? I remember flying to kamatsu and they wouldn't let me take a 5cm pair of deadly nail clippers on the plane. I can just see a hijack scenario unfolding with a pair of nail clippers. "Take me to Komatsu or I'll clip your fingernails!"

Guess the large crowd of passengers threw a 'paper' and lost! Incredible. Don't they have cameras that they could have used to check the person's face, thus making it easy to find the 'perpetrator' of this 'heinous' act?

Another thing I don't get is the limits on these "dangerous" implements. A 6cm blade is dangerous but a 5cm blade would be harmless would it?

You can carry lighters on board actually, but only one. Only one? Why would you want more than one in the first place? I'd thought for ages you couldn't carry them on at all and it was only when I checked last month for an international flight I was catching that I discovered you could. It's crazy, you could easily go to the toilet with a newspaper or magazine, set it alight and have an inferno going into the electrics in the ceiling before anyone knew what was going on, let alone managed to knock the door down, and that's just one possible scenario for a suicidal maniac. For all this talk of heightened security post 9/11 the authorities don't seem to have a clue what's going on in many respects.

Security at airports are a joke. Even after 9/11 the "dangerous" items you couldn't take through security can be bought at the airport. Add to the fact that any high percentage alcohol can be easily lit. And yes you can take matches in your hand luggage.