On December 22, 2001—just months after the 9/11 attacks—Richard Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami with homemade bombs hidden in his shoes.
During the flight, Reid tried to detonate his shoes, but he struggled to light the fuse. Crew members and passengers noticed and restrained him.
The plane diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, and Massachusetts State Police officers took Reid into custody. Reid told FBI agents that he made the shoes himself.
This is the pair of shoes [Richard] Reid—also known as the “shoe bomber”—tried to detonate. FBI bomb techs determined that the shoes contained about 10 ounces of explosive material.
No, we take our shoes off for security theater.
You want actual security? Have trained agents who observe all the people. Instead, we have shlubs sitting by monitors that they don’t watch.
I traveled recently and was surprised to find I had inadvertently got a pocket knife through security. Apparently forgot to take it out of my bag. TSA did not catch it.
They caught a credit card knife I had left in my wallet forgotten about and made me throw it out this was years ago and I have yet to get another credit card knife because it was a gift lol
Credit card… knife?
Yeah it’s a small flat knife like a pocketknife like small flat swiss army but with only a knife attachment and it unfolds like oragami into a thin rectangle meant to fit in wallets’ card flaps or wherever else cards go but when using it you fold it up into a small knife blade and a handle for it I mean it’s like for tiny things like cutting packages open or whatever people use small swiss army knives for. If you seriously tried to use it even remotely violently or in a threatening manner at most you will give someone a small cut like a gnarly papercut and more likely you’d just be thrown in a loony bin lol but TSA has its rules God forbid I have that on me on the flight along with a large shampoo bottle and liquids brought from home that’s straight to jail
That’s pretty cool, had no idea that existed!
The multitool parts at that price were low quality, but a knife in wallet is handy. I did like that kit when it came outs Gerber and I think other brands now make just a knife card.
Victorinox is making multitool cards too.
I never used one but going by the brand reputation they should be high quality
This happened to me too several years ago, but apparently there had just been some type of attempted attack with those a few months prior in Belgium and they were a restricted weapon in canada. I did end up getting on the plane but not before being read my rights by some cops and given a very stern talking to. And being shamed for not watching the news lmao.
The one I had was tiny and flimsy I mean basically only for opening packages or cutting like paper and cardboard small stuff I imagine in the attempted attack you mentioned theirs was more beefy or something because mine was like a toy or souvenir literally it was corporate branded bs lol
Ah I mean yeah mine had like a real 1.5 inch blade and was pretty sharp, and the plastic casing around it could like fold down into a handle. It was really cool actually, but I got it off some Chinese website for like $2 years before and it literally was forgotten in my wallet for like 3 years. At least until it seemed to be taking a long time for him to xray my bag and I saw him call someone else over, then it came rushing back in a wave of dread lol.
Something similar happened to me. I accidentally left a Victorinox Swiss Card in my wallet when I went traveling. They only flagged it at the airport on the way back. Security made me throw out the tiny scissors because they were longer than 2 inches but let me keep the knife part. It was absurd.
Happened to me too. It was in my laptop bag, and nobody cared. But the bottle of water is a massive problem
They don’t want actual security. They want perceived terror and a populace that is used to being forced to do uncomfortable things that they know are pointless.
Covid proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I’m old enough to remember the manufactured hysteria over swine flu, and SARS. It’s like they kept trying every ten years or so and finally found a populous where a majoritt would buy into that horseshit.
OK boomer
Exactly. Just have skilled people talk to people.
But you gotta train and pay skilled people…that’s not compatible with the stated objectives.
It’s notable that this happened ONE TIME EVER IN ALL OF HISTORY and suddenly hundreds of millions needs to suffer for security theater.
I know that Israel is not exactly in moral good graces right now, but I was always impressed by their airport security’s efficiency.
They had a long weaving line where they’d walk sniffing dogs and have spotters to pull people out for in-depth screening. If you weren’t pulled out you just went through a metal detector and bags went in a basic x-ray.
Very quick moving lines and none of theatrical humiliation of removing shoes and belts.
Its primarily done via racial profiling. And given all weve learned recently about their attitudes toward brown people, it makes me question how much of the data theyve released is actually accurate, and not just “This guy was definitely going to blow up a plane, and we know this because hes from Gaza and lives next door to a guy capable of making a bomb”.
They also do it by religion apparently. There was a video on Youtube of a Canadian Jewish girl who turned Muslim that recounts the difference of how it went at the airport. Apparently they put a sticker on your passport and if the number starts with a 6 you get extra scrutiny.
One of the key reasons for Israeli airport security efficiency is racial profiling though (see the Ben Gurion airport section of This page for details).
Lived in Latin America for years. Pretty much the same there. Just be patient and go through line and you’re good.
I don’t think you need to take off your shoes in Europe airports.
Not all the time but you may be asked to. Had it happen a few times over the years.
Interestingly, most airports in Europe do not routinely make people take their shoes off. The way the TSA sticks to that policy implies they should have planes dropping out of the sky on a weekly basis.
Swede here, I have only had to remove my shoes once when going through security, it was an airport in the UK, and I was randomly selected (I look like a Swede)
Have you tried not looking Swedish?
Don’t shame them for their debilitating meatball addiction.
* Sweating lingonberry sauce *
In uk airports I only take them off if they’re particularly metallic and I think they’ll trigger the metal detector
And yet we can keep our underwear on…
Don’t give TSA any ideas. They’re not all idiots working for a Federal jobs program; some of them are idiots with power in a Federal jobs program.
That guy was a dumbass. I’d be surprised if it did more than bust up his feet.
There was also Philippines Airlines 434 where components for a bomb were hidden in the culprit’s shoes and then assembled on the plane. The plane managed to land safely, but one passenger was killed by the explosion and a number of others were injured.
Removed by mod
The answer to your unspoken question is money.
Decades of checking shoes is decades of money in the hands of the few.
The podcast You’re Wrong About just did an episode on this: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1112270/14538729-the-shoe-bomber-with-miles-klee
Moral of the story: if you want something to reliably blow up, use an e-match
You take your shoes off? I only got called out because i left my Headphones in my backpack.
Most Airport security is theater anyways.
