TSA reminds travelers: Pack carefully, and leave the banned items at home
NEW YORK - Summer travel season is upon us, and no one wants to be delayed by long airport security lines.
Thursday, the TSA issued a very visual reminder that passengers must think before they arrive at the checkpoint. Thousands of items get tossed in the trash every day because they're not allowed.
There's packing, and then there's this kind of packing: Bringing a firearm through airport security can get you arrested.
There are less obvious items that will set off alarms and hold everyone up.
"A lot of knives, oversized scissors, tools that cannot go," TSA Supervisor Nieves Ortiz said. "Replicas of firearms definitely not allowed."
TSA officials confiscate thousands of items every month at John F. Kennedy International Airport alone, including valuable tools - even pool cues.
Your aerosols and liquids will be tossed. Your baby's water or milk is allowed, but may be tested.
"If you travel with children, infants, then you are allowed to bring liquids for the baby. We consider that medical exempt," TSA officer Donna Nicholson said.
Ask yourself: Can an item be used as a weapon?
"Young kids, adults going to baseball tournaments and softball tournaments, they bring the bat right on board. You can travel with it. It's got to be in your checked bag," JFK TSA Security Director John Essig said.
The latest trends slowing everyone down? Artfully concealed knives.
"It looks like a credit card to a lot of other people, but when we check wallets we find a lot of these. When we check bracelets, we pull them out and there's a knife in between them," TSA Agent DeVaughn Edwards said.
"The carbon fiber ones, knives, they're very interesting. They're very sharp, though. Please, you cannot travel with these items," Essig said. "Put it in your checked bag, wrap it up. Put some bubble tape around it."
A shiny belt didn't make the cut - it was made of bullets.
- Related story: TSA: Man tried to smuggle disassembled gun in peanut butter
Travel is back to 2019 levels. TSA officials ask - please help them keep the lines moving. Start with an empty bag, and know what you're packing.
It could be pricey mistake for passengers. They do not get their confiscated items back. Much of it is sold by individual states as government surplus.
For a full list of what you can and can not pack in carry on or checked checked luggage, CLICK HERE.