Airport angels let travelers mail home confiscated items LITTLE ROCK (AP) =97 Security scanners say they've confiscated everything,= =20 including the kitchen sink, at the Little Rock National Airport. "We used= =20 to tell people we saw everything but the kitchen sink, but then we had one= =20 of those," said Jerry Henderson, Federal Security director at the airport.= =20 But for travelers who are stopped with smaller items, like scissors or=20 pocket knives, the Airport Angels come to the rescue. The airport's force=20 of two dozen volunteers started a program in January that lets passengers=20 mail sentimental items home. So far, they've sent 1,000 mailings. Travelers= =20 pay $2 for each padded envelope, with a sticker boasting "Angels Squadron"= =20 on the front. They've mailed items to 45 states and five countries. The program saves the security agents from having to dispose of the items,= =20 which piled up to nearly 1,500 pounds over the last year. Henderson donated= =20 that haul to the state last week, which is doling it out to different=20 agencies. Scissors were donated to schools. Mace went to the police=20 department. There are boxes of confiscated items in Henderson's office. He= =20 paws through the tubs, which are filled with fireworks, pocket knives,=20 matches, lighters, screwdrivers, ammunition and nail clippers. One=20 traveler, he said, tried to bring a frozen armadillo in a plastic bag=20 through security in Fort Smith. Another group of passengers wanted to bring= =20 a log from the Beaver Dam through, along with a chain saw filled with=20 gasoline. A tiled stone in the shape of the American flag sits in=20 Henderson's office. "Anything that can disable a person or bring down a=20 plane," said Chuck Polk, who also works in security at the airport. "You=20 have to think also could somebody take it away from you?" However, the more interesting items are what Henderson calls, "artfully=20 concealed." Last week a man came through security with a half-dozen=20 razorblades slid in the binding of his Bible, he said. And when security=20 twisted a lipstick tube that a woman tried to carry-on, a razorblade popped= =20 up instead of makeup. The confiscated items are dropped in a locked=20 mail-box style bin near the security monitors at the airport. Agents empty= =20 the bin every two weeks. Most passengers are upset at surrendering their=20 personal items, not at the security agents, Henderson said. That's why he=20 appreciates the mail-back program, which appeases travelers and saves his=20 office from dealing with the extra items. "This is probably an $80 tool,"=20 he says, picking a leather-cased pocket knife out of a box. "And we would=20 just as soon somebody send it back home to themselves for $2." Passengers=20 notice too. A Dallas businessman sent the airport a handwritten note,=20 thanking them for mailing his knife home. "In the rush, I forgot to remove= =20 my knife and thought of it only after our luggage was checked," he wrote.=20 "You were angels to help me." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************