TSA tells air travelers how to pack their bags to avoid delays WASHINGTON (AP) =97 The federal government is telling air travelers how to= =20 pack the bags they plan to check as it ramps up luggage screening during=20 the holiday travel season. Bags should be left unlocked so the federal=20 screeners won't have to force them open if they have to search them by=20 hand, says James Loy, head of the Transportation Security Administration.=20 Instead, he recommended that people use cable ties or zip ties, which can=20 be purchased at hardware stores and cut off easily. Passengers also were warned against putting film in checked bags, because=20 screening equipment will damage it, and to leave gifts unwrapped should=20 screening require them to be opened. Put scissors, pocket knives and other= =20 sharp items in checked bags; never carried on. Loy traveled to=20 Jacksonville, Fla., to make the announcement because the airport was one of= =20 the first to install an explosive detection system. He also said travelers= =20 should put toothbrushes and other personal belongings in plastic bags so=20 screeners won't have to touch them. He said books should be spread out=20 rather than stacked, and food and beverages are prohibited. Food items, like cheese or chocolate, can be mistaken by bomb-detection=20 machines, for explosives and would generate a so-called "false positive."=20 TSA screeners will hand-search all bags that give false positive readings.= =20 Shoes should be packed last to make it easier for screeners to hand search= =20 luggage. The TSA, created after the terrorist attacks, was given a Dec. 31= =20 deadline by Congress to implement a program to screen all checked baggage=20 for explosives. Lawmakers, fearing long lines and delays at airports,=20 extended the deadline because some large airports weren't able to add=20 SUV-sized bomb-detection machines to their existing bag management systems= =20 in time. Installing the machines, which were in short supply, can require=20 months of construction to shore up floors, add space and build power=20 stations. The TSA, though, says it will have some form of baggage-screening= =20 at as many as the nation's 429 commercial airports as possible before Jan.= =20 1, agency spokesman Brian Turmail said. Not all bags will be put through the big bomb-detection machines. Some will= =20 be screened by bomb-sniffing dogs, others hand-searched or checked with=20 wands that detect explosives residue. Steve van Beek, senior vice president= =20 of the Airports Council International-North America, an airport trade=20 group, said he had concerns about liability for lost or stolen items. "If=20 something gets lost, what will the customer do?" van Beek said. The TSA has= =20 a customer response center in Washington that people can call in case=20 something is lost or stolen, Turmail said. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************