Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

TSA camera damage - WARNING!

J Clark

J Clark

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
202
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Website
www.monstercine.com
I wanted to share two issues we had this week with the TSA agents when traveling from Portland to LAX and back with our red package for a big commercial shoot:

On the way down the TSA inspectors opened our cases and when closing the mattebox case they let the ends of the French flag hang out and tried to force the case shut, effectively bending and denting in both tips and cracking the finish.

On the return flight I requested that I get a look at the repacking of the cases, if they were opened, and they denied my request. It really got under our skin when we watched from 20 feet away as the inspector spent almost 15 minutes swabbing our camera for explosives with his back turned to us, then denied a last look upon re-closure. I spoke to his manager after this incident and he confirmed that you do in fact have a right to look at the re-packing, but you can't get close enough to touch.

When we returned to Portland, we opened the case and we were horrified to discover that the TSA inspector had not only removed 2 screws that hold the red dove tail and left them loose in the case, but he had removed the protective cap on the sensor and left it off! Needless to say, if the screws had entered the cavity we would be out of a camera and this would have killed us - It's enough that we now have to clean the sensor because of lint and dust that entered during the flight.

On a separate note, our producer lost a Mac workstation to the TSA when they repacked his boxes after inspection and stacked the computer case on top of a portable drive. The forces exerted in transport crushed in the case and broke the motherboard. After 6 months of battling the TSA they denied him any compensation, because they could.

I just want to share this info with you and ask you to redistribute this warning to everybody traveling with a camera - use great caution, carry on your camera body, and know your rights when handing your gear over to the TSA cronies. You own the gear and you do have visual re-packing inspection rights so don't be afraid to ask, or ask for the TSA manager. We felt victimized by the TSA and don't want to see others have the same bad experience.

Finally, don't let them bully you because they don't have any policing rights and cannot threaten to arrest if they don't disagree with you. If they do, they would then be posing as an officer and that is a crime against you. AND always remember to stay cool and remain rational to avoid conflict with the airport police if they get involved. The TSA inspectors are low paid employees, many with little more than a GED or high-school diploma, so go above their heads immediately if you face any issues. If you do have a problem with TSA, write them a letter, along with the terminal TSA manager, the airport manager and the airline. Enough voices will create change.

Good luck to you all in your travels. Join the resistance!

TSA Link:

www.tsa.gov/travelers/customer/claims/message.shtm
 
At one of the European airports a security officer,

a woman, watched my RED with her big eyes like this :w00t:.

She told me that she the first time saw the camera like a RED !!???.

Jim, the case like yours could happened in daily basis everywhere worldwide.
 
I think you just got unlucky. They really treated my RED with respect and the TSA lady was sweet and smiling all the time. This was at Raleigh Int. Airport in NC. You are right though about knowing your rights.
 
I don't want to preach, But I have to say, I never check my camera...ever.
I always carry on the camera and essentials for a shoot if everything else is lost. Its a pain and I am sure you don't want to here it but it can save some of this type of headache. french flags are easily replaced, but the camera.....

Good luck getting the TSA to even respond to any correspondence, they
tore apart one of our raids and left it scattered in the case one time and never responded to multiple calls
 
Same thing happened to me on a trip to Stanford University from LAX. TSA opened my camera case and removed two cables. I have no idea why they decided to remove the drive and battery cables. On the return trip the producer asked me to check with TSA to see if they had them. I thought it would be a useless endeavor. To my amazement they had the cables. Finding the TSA lost and found, located on Century Blvd., was an adventure but worth it. When you open the door, which is unmarked and located in the back of a hotel, you'll find many irate passengers looking for their watches or ipods. There you'll find a large glass bookcase filled with items passengers tried to carry on to a plane. There were hand grenades, samurai swords, switchblades, handguns, and other items a lot more strange than a Red Camera. My advice is too hand carry the essential gear and make a big list that you check after the bomb inspection.
 
Two things help immensely with checked gear:
1) Include visual packing guides in the cases (large laminated photograph, with a key identifying the objects). Showing where everything goes in each case. Like many rental houses have with their gear.
2) Be sure to mention the words "expensive", "fragile" and "irreplaceable" when you hand your bags to TSA for checking.
 
LAX has some of the biggest assbags working there. This is why if its on this side of the rockies I don't fly, I drive. The 13 hour trip from LA to Portland really isn't that bad if you don't mind a little road trip. Plus I get to travel with all my gear and some things could bring on the flight with me:)
 
I recently travelled 84,000Km with 2 Reds and 28 cases of other gear. The only time on the entire 40-flight adventure that anything disappeared from any of our cases, was when we travelled through the US and found a lovely "This case was opened by the TSA" notice.

They stole silly things like carabiners and tools.

TSA (Thousands Standing Around) is a joke, does next to nothing to improve airport security, and makes be glad to be a non-American.
 
In 2000 I flew from Toronto to a few European countries with a Swiss Army knife and a liter of maple syrup in a metal tin. No problems.

In 2008 I flew from Toronto to Dallas without 100mL of mouthwash.

Thanks to 9/11 induced paranoia and general retardation from the aviation authorities, we now are subjected to increased delays, unnecessary restriction on what we can have, and far too much power placed in the hands of under trained and paid security punks, but have not made everyone safer from anyone that is determined to. In 8 years I have watched our liberties fade under the pretense of security. What a shame we allowed ourselves to get boned like this.
 
There are plenty of worthless federal employees that really believe because someone tells them that they have power over someone else that they really do. As others have said it, people too stupid to deal with so much power.
 
Never, ever, check cameras. Ever. Not ever. Always hand carry them into the cabin. Always. Even if only because of lost baggage, but really because of all the places in the chain of events between check in and picking up your bags where your camera can be damaged and your shoot is over until you get another one. I say this not to be a smart ass, but because I have been really burned in teh past. I even had a cine zoom lens completely destroyed inside its case in two inches of foam. I never figured out how they did that but it was a big insurance claim.
Rob Gardner
Rob Gardner
 
The trickle down effect in full force: Vote Republican... broken gear. When fear and greed run a country, this will happen daily.

Nick.
 
Hi,

We just wrapped on a three month shoot with two REDs. We traveled throughout Europe, Canary Islands, South Africa, Australia, Chile, Hawaii and Mainland US. We stopped counting legs around the time we left Australia - 14+. So I am posting with experience.

Here is my advice. Greet the TSA officer with a smile and tell them what you are carrying - cameras, hard drives, lenses and audio gear. Try and present your whole crew and gear at the same time - security in numbers. Pack your gear in a manner that keeps all the small items in stuff sacks and pack the larger items in a logical way that makes sense even to a TSA agent. Keep it simple. In general, check as much as you can and hand carry the critical stuff on the plane.

BTW, we completed our odyssey with one one lost item - the DP lost his razor.

Look for "400 Years of the Telescope" on PBS the first half of next year. The first full-length astronomy documentary shot 100% on the Red!
 
Suede said:
The trickle down effect in full force: Vote Republican... broken gear. When fear and greed run a country, this will happen daily.

Nick.
Click to expand...


Yes, because when Obama takes office in January he will disband the TSA. :glare:

Don't be retarded.
 
I can't wait to see your documentary on astronomy. Where? When? It sounds exciting! F
Look for "400 Years of the Telescope" on PBS the first half of next year. The first full-length astronomy documentary shot 100% on the Red![/QUOTE]
 
I have no problem with the TSA and its mission. Safer travel = a good thing. Anybody who has ever flown in and out of Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv knows the real meaning of security precautions. Holy crap! Now THOSE guys do not f*ck around!

I am not inconvenienced by having my baggage searched or having to take off my shoes. Do I think it's kind of stupid to take off my shoes? Yes, but whatever. I reserve my anger for Richard Reid, not the TSA.

What I have a problem with is incompetence.

I travel a fair amount. Yesterday, I got back from a day trip to San Francisco and was unpacking my backpack. At the bottom of one of the many compartments in my backpack, I found a small Leatherman that I had stuck down there probably a year ago. It had gotten wrapped up in an internal fold of fabric in the backpack and was not floating loose in the backpack like everything else, so it was just luck that something had jarred it loose and I grabbed it.

I live in Los Angeles, and LAX is my main port of call. I have gone through departing security at LAX probably around 30 or 40 times in the past year. With a Leatherman. A metal one, with the knife, pliers, the works. And it has *never* been found.

Yesterday, going through security in the Oakland airport, my backpack was pulled over for a secondary inspection. No problem... I carry a lot of weird electronic gear and that happens a lot. What flagged it this time was a container of baby powder in one of the side pockets that showed up as a liquid on the screen. So the guy pulled it out... and did not check to make sure it was baby powder. Just looked at the label and said, "oh... ok" and put it back where he found it. Great. So I guess if I am going to be dangerous, I just need to pack whatever unpleasantness I have in a baby powder container.

And I cannot count the number of times I have some kind of tool that I accidentally left in my backpack that makes it through primary *and* secondary screening without being noticed.

Again... I have no problem with security. I have no problem with my bags being searched. I *want* to be safe. I'm the guy on the airplane that when it's announced, "we still need to get that gizmo checked out and we'll be on the tarmac for another 45 minutes." - I say, "cool - get it checked out. I don't know what that gizmo is, but at 38,000 feet, I damned well want it working."

But these little experiences that I've had - and I am not *trying* to deceive anyone - make me mad. Not about the wasteful spending, or government pork, but about people who are supposed to be protecting me and the other passengers on the plane - but instead are too busy looking cool in front of each other and catching up on the latest gossip instead of finding the damned Leatherman in my backpack.

[dismount soapbox]

Lucas
 
luki said:
... Anybody who has ever flown in and out of Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv knows the real meaning of security precautions. Holy crap! Now THOSE guys do not f*ck around!
Click to expand...

Exactly! Those guys are trained. They are smart, serious and thorough! They are not local yahoos who were too dumb, too fat or too whatever to be accepted in the police academy so they answered the TSA ad.

True security is quite different from security theatre. Sure, the TSA's theatrics have made enough people feel secure in flying that (most) airlines have not gone out of business. "Ooh! I had to remove my loafers. Those guys are serious!"

I think I would much prefer some badass paramilitary types with AK47s and real training to unobservant TSA pocket-knife and >100mL shampoo collectors.

At the very least, properly trained military personnel would respect the importance and delicateness of other professionals' tools. My camera is as important as your sniper rifle and should be handled and packed with the same degree of care.
 
I think it is common sense to not check your camera, but you can't carry on all your gear so my beef is when my expensive camera support pieces go down that conveyer to the TSA morons you don't see. It is not just TSA. I flew Southwest recently and a downpour shut the Airport down. So where did the idiots leave our luggage? Sitting on open carts by the plane. I got my gear (not all of it is in a pelican) and clothes after landing and they were drenched. I think these things are inevitable in this "no Service" "I don't give a shit" airline industry. So I do all I can to prepare for this stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top