This was published 3 years ago
More than 1 in 5 US travellers carry prohibited items onto aircraft, survey finds
A survey of airline passengers found that more than 20 per cent had knowingly or unknowingly smuggled prohibited items past the US Transportation Security Administration checkpoints onto the aircraft, including at least 6 per cent who boarded the plane while unintentionally carrying prohibited knives or other bladed objects.
Less than 1 per cent claimed that they discovered belatedly that they had mistakenly travelled with firearms, ammunition or explosives.
The survey of more than 1000 people - which was conducted by a jet-chartering service Stratos Jet Charters Inc. - also found that younger travellers were more likely to flout the rules. Of the respondents who admitted knowingly trying to fly with something banned by the TSA, 19.7 per cent were millennials, compared with less than 15 per cent who were members of Generation X.
The most common items whisked past TSA agents on purpose were food and liquids. More than 3 per cent admitted knowingly carrying bladed items past security, while 2.2 per cent of female respondents and 3.7 per cent of male respondents also acknowledged intentionally carrying prohibited drugs onto the aircraft.
Liquids are allowed on domestic flights, but not on international ones.Credit:AP
The company said it surveyed travellers around the country to find out how many had accidentally brought contraband through airport security and how many had done so on purpose. It's no surprise that the people most likely to haul contraband past security - knowingly or unknowingly - were those who fly the most.
As the company points out, however, the TSA guidelines are somewhat complicated and confusing. People are often uncertain of what liquids they can carry or how much of them. So it's no surprise that the largest amount of stuff seized by the TSA happens to be forbidden liquids. For a time, people thought the TSA might be treating books as contraband.
Washington Post