Airport Rules Detail Fines for Carrying Banned Items

02/19/04

Airport Rules Detail Fines for Carrying Banned Items 
Associated Press


Washington- Anyone trying to sneak a knife onto an
airplane could be fined $250 and a passenger with an
explosive could get a fine of as much as $10,000 under
new guidelines. 

Thousands of airline passengers board planes every
year carrying banned items such as cuticle scissors,
box cutters and guns. 
     
Tom Blank, assistant administrator for transportation
security policy, testified before Congress last week
that the Transportation Security Administration has
intercepted more than 1,650 firearms, more than 3
million knives and more than 57,000 incendiary devices
since shortly after the terrorist hijackings on Sept.
11, 2001. 

When Congress created the Homeland Security Department
last year, it raised the maximum fine for trying to
carry prohibited items through airport security from
$1,100 to $10,000. The TSA, which became part of
Homeland Security, issued the guidelines on Wednesday
spelling out the range of fines applied to each
violation. 

The guidelines list aggravating factors, such as
"attitude" and "artful concealment," that can bring a
heftier fine. 

Though bringing a prohibited item to a checkpoint is
illegal, fines won't be levied on everyone who
inadvertently tries to bring a pair of cuticle
scissors or a cigarette lighter through airport
security. 

The guidelines call for going easy on children,
inexperienced fliers or people who disclose that they
are carrying something they shouldn't. 

Airline passengers carrying banned items can be
prosecuted for civil or criminal violations. 

If TSA screeners catch someone committing a criminal
act, such as carrying a concealed weapon or assaulting
a screener, they will call local law-enforcement
officials. 

Those accused of a civil violation will receive a
notice of violation and an option sheet in the mail.
They get a 50 percent discount on the fine if they pay
within 30 days. 


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