Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/05/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Peter, An interesting story. I, for one, do not feel any safer for the Draconian procedures and civil liberty violations being undertaken in the US and elsewhere. As a photographer with serious health problems I would not even try to fly anymore. Medications all must be in original packaging. (I buy large quantities that would be onerous to carry along.) I am diabetic and must bring testing equipment and syringes along. I also must take along a large electronic piece of equipment, a dialysis machine and supplies of liquid dialyte. Any special food that I need to bring I MUST PROVE are actually foods. All the foolish and useless restrictions simply make air travel for me, and those like me, impossibly difficult. Ken Wilcox At 9:52 PM -0700 5/20/02, Peter Klein wrote: >I'm back, having unsubscribed for a couple of weeks while traveling >in Switzerland and Provence. Film is at the processor, should be >back in a couple of days, so I may scan a pic or two this week, >obligations permitting. > >First off, I would like to thank Nathan Wajsman for meeting Katya >and me and taking us on a delightful walking tour of Zurich. It's >always great to meet other LUGgers, and Nathan was a delightful >guide and conversationalist. > >Second, let me add a couple of data points to the airport X-ray >arena. As I've always done in recent years, I took all my film out >of the plastic canisters and put it in zip-lock plastic bags. > >* Seattle-Tacoma International: My request for a hand inspection of >my film was politely honored after I noted that X-ray exposure is >cumulative, and I would be going through several airports. They not >only looked at my film, but swabbed the outside of one or two >canisters with a chemical test. My film was checked both departing >Seattle, and after clearing Customs on my return. Yes, they X-ray >the hand baggage when you leave the International arrival area. >International arrivals are already within the secure area of the >airport (and some go on to connections). Plus, they want to look >for the dreaded fresh fruit they wish to keep out of the U.S. > >* Geneva: I asked for a hand scan, it was curtly refused. When I >gave my "cumulative" speil, the woman asked her supervisor, who said >(without even looking at me) it would be fine and I had to let her >scan it. So I did. The fact that I asked in French did me no good. > >* Amsterdam: Again I asked for a hand scan, again it was refused. >This time the woman at the scanner was very polite and apologetic, >and said that she was sorry, but it was policy. When I arrived >there from Seattle, there was no X-ray to transfer to my Geneva >flight. Arriving from Geneva to go to Seattle, there was a fairly >heavy-duty security check, including interviews, hand luggage X-ray >and the occasional pat-down and "remove-yer-shoes please." > >There seems to be a case of "ISO inflation" going around airports. >Last February, the Sea-Tac people said that ISO 1000 film would be >fine, but all it took was one roll of 800 film among my mostly 400 >rolls to get a hand inspection at both Sea-Tac and Los Angeles >(LAX). This time, I was told that up to 1600 film would be >perfectly safe. I'm not sure if someone has done some testing or >that they've simply upped the numbers to cut down the number of hand >inspection requests. > >I'm not upset about this. My goal was simply to minimize the X-ray >exposure, just in case. If I didn't have a good lab here in >Seattle, I might have taken my chances with on-site film purchase >and processing. But for the moment, I followed Ted Grant's rules: >Ask politely for a hand inspection, and if they say no, let 'em >X-ray and don't worry. > >More to come... >--Peter > >-- >To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- _____________________ Ken Wilcox klw.51 at comcast.net - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html