Women Upset by Intrusive Airport Frisking

New Airport Search Regulations Lead to Complaints

Nov. 24, 2004
ABC News

For some women travelers, it seems their first stop is the worst: at the airport security checkpoint.

"Sometimes they overdo it," said one woman. "I've almost been stripped, practically."
"You're sort of treated like a criminal," said another, "guilty before proven innocent."

They're talking about newly intrusive personal searches ordered by the Transportation Safety Administration after the downing of two Russian jetliners over the summer. Russian officials believe that women passengers smuggled explosives on board under their clothing.

"There are very sinister ways of hiding weapons or explosives on terrorists' bodies," said Mark Hatfield of the TSA. "We need to combat that threat."

But businesswoman Nancy Kho remembers a female screener who she said went way too far. "She felt up underneath my bra straps and just about everywhere else, you know," Kho said. "It was very thorough. And the whole time it was happening, I was just in full view of all the other travelers."

How Big a Problem?

Still, it's important to put the issue in perspective. The TSA says as many as 15 percent of the 2 million people who fly every day are now subjected to pat-downs. Out of roughly 100 million airline passengers since Sept. 20 — when the more-aggressive procedures took effect — until Nov. 14 — the last date for which there are figures — the TSA has logged just 260 complaints, mostly from women.

But women who travel say there are many more annoying incidents than complaints. "I have no question about the fact that the number of complaints does not reflect the groundswell of anger and humiliation that is rising up among women business travelers," said Betty Spence of the National Association for Female Executives.

In fact, Rhonda Gaynier is considering filing a lawsuit. "They're patting passengers down and touching women's breasts, for crying out loud — with no reason."

No reason? Today, authorities arrested a suspect who was planning to board a flight to the Bahamas at Fort Lauderdale International Airport with a Colt Derringer handgun and seven bullets hidden inside a case designed to resemble a book.

The suspect was Margaret Anderson, a 79-year-old from Bonita Springs, Fla.

ABC News' Dean Reynolds reported this story for World News Tonight.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/News/story?id=277647