But many new TSOs like Becker found themselves with little to actually do - hence the “joke” that the agency’s acronym was really short for “ Thousands Standing Around.” He was one of the more than 40,000 new Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) that the agency hired in its first year of existence. Not even death can exempt you from TSA screening.Įncounters like this happen “every day at every airport,” according to Scott Becker, who worked for the TSA at Chicago O’Hare between 20 and wrote a memoir about his experiences. Only then was the corpse cleared to proceed into the secure part of the terminal. Then, they checked the body’s “sensitive areas” - the breasts, inner thighs, and buttocks - with “sufficient pressure to ensure detection.” With gloves on, they ran the palms of their hands over the collar, the abdomen, the inside of the waistband, and the lower legs. Her colleagues checked the corpse according to the official pat-down process. “We’re just following TSA protocol,” Cooper explained. And since the TSA’s body scanners can only be used on people who can stand up, the corpse would have to be manually patted down. But not before her body got checked for contraband, weapons, or explosives. And US law obligates airlines to accommodate their ticketed and checked-in passengers, even if they have “a physical or mental impairment that, on a permanent or temporary basis, substantially limits one or more major life activities.” In short: she could still fly. Without a formal death certificate, the passenger could not be considered legally dead. The family might not have known it, but they had run into one of air travel’s many gray areas. Better that than leave her in a foreign country’s medical system, they figured. Since they had her boarding pass in hand, the distraught family figured that they would still try to get her on the flight. She and her family had arrived several hours prior, per the airport’s guidance for international flights, but she died sometime after check-in. Soon, Cooper was joined at her station by a supervisor, followed by an assortment of EMTs and airport police officers. “She can’t, she can’t, she can’t,” said the passenger who was pushing the wheelchair. “I need to see her face to identify her.” “Is she okay? Can she sit up?” Cooper asked, taking their boarding passes and IDs to check. One of them was in a wheelchair, bent over with her head between her knees, completely unresponsive. But this particular group of tearful passengers presented her with a problem.
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