Traveling with Rig F@#$-up !

[unlucky1 0]

This happened 2 days ago at Anchorage airport leaving for Cleveland to visit family.
Anyway, we check in at the counter, get our boarding passes, etc... we get in a looooonnnng line for security pass thru (xray machines,etc.). After about 1/2 wait in line, finally get to the xray machine. I am of course carrying my rig because of all the other times that the cargo handlers beat it to shit (Last time I found foot prints all over my gear bag). I put the bag on the conveyer belt for the xray. Next thing I know, they are calling over their supervisor. He asks me what is in the bag. I tell him "a parachute". He says that there is something that looks like wires in the bag. I tell him it is probably my parachute lines. He runs the bag thru the xray again. He comes up to me and asks me to unpack my parachute. I of course decline. He wants my reserve out. He gets his supervisor who proceeds on telling me I have 4 choices. 1) unpack the reserve so they can inspect it. They would of course give me time to repack it. I explain to him that I'm not a rigger, it would take hours to repack it if i was, and my flight leaves in 20 minutes. 2)He told me to take it back out to check in with the airline as checked baggage. Mind you I don't have a gear bag. My flight leaves in 20 minutes, and they couldn't guarantee that it would be on the flight. 3) He told me to check it in to lost and found and come back in 2 weeks and "hope" that it was still there. I don't need to explain to him that that is nuts! 4) He told me to take the rig home, miss my flight and we'll call it even. Of course none of these choices was reasonable. The only one I could do was to run out to the airlines and hopefully I could make it through the 1/2 hour security line in time for my 20 minute flight. Mind you...my gf was waiting at the gate for me. She had no idea what was going on. I run to the gate, told NWA what was going on. Of course, she proceeds with giving me a hard time about time constraints, nothing to pack the rig in, etc.
Thank GOD at that time the head of the TSA at Ted Stevens Int'l walks up. He tells her to check it, and he would personally walk it to the plane. I thank him and run to the security line. Its every bit as long as it was. I'm waiting in line and they start paging me overhead for my flight. About this time the TSA supervisor came to me and walked me straight to the beginning of the line. He tells me good luck. I end up making my plane, but barely.
All of this even after I told them that the TSA allows carry-on rigs. They had to look through their books, etc. before they gave me my 4 choices. Does anybody else have this kind of story? Should I have taken it to the room, put the rig on, and turned my back to the TSA supervisor (not the one who helped me in the end), and pulled my reserve handle? I would have missed my flight, but it would have been worth it.
Anybody else with this kind of situation?

Thanks,
Johnny

[mnealtx 0]

Couple of suggestions I've seen in the "travelling with rig" threads:

1. Copy and carry the TSA guidance letter about parachutes

2. Carry your AAD x-ray card (if you have one)

3. Ask for the supervisor as soon as they pull it aside

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[happythoughts 0]

If they want you to check it, insist that they GIVE you a pet carrier to protect it.

1- Before I put it on the belt, I let them know.

2- I always carry a copy of the TSA rules about parachutes (link off the USPA site).

3- I am always polite.

4- You are allowed to be there during the examination.

To this point, I have not had a problem.
If someone develops an attitude with them, they have alllll day. You are playing in their sandbox.

[grue 1]

Living up to your username, aren't you?

cavete terrae.

[Brian425 0]

The key is being prepared. I've flown twice with my rig and have had minimal problems. The key is the TSA letter, the Cypress or AAD x-ray card and of course a pull up cord.

At JFK once, I forgot to take out my hook knife. They asked me to unpack my main and took the hook knife. The suprevisor set up an area for me to pack and set up barriers to give me room. As I was finishing up packing, he asked is the hook knife a "necessary safety device" to skydive. I told him yes. He then shook my hand and magically I walked away with my hook knife.

Be prepared with the info they need. A parachute is an unusual item to most TSA agents. When they scan it, it has metal bits and wires inside (if you have an AAD). You need to understand their perspective. The easier you make it for them, the easier it will be for you.

The only time you should look down on someone is when you are offering them your hand.

[adventurechick 0]

I carried on my rig and I printed off the Cypress card from online and had no problems. That sucks though, I'm sorry!!

PMS #449 TPM #80 Muff Brother #3860
SCR #14705 Dirty Sanchez #233

[gofast_ER 0]

I took 4 flights on my vacation last month. All of them went good. Well, on the last flight back to fort polk the screener saw that I had a rig and called his supervisor. He comes up and looks at my rig. He then looks at me and asked if I was DB Cooper. Said nope, he said have a good day.

I may not agree with what you have to say but i'll defend to the death your right to say it.

[ladyskydiver 0]

Everytime I fly, I have the TSA letter approving rigs, my Cypres card, the USPA letter, a letter from the airline stating that rigs are ok. I, also, arrive 45 minutes to 1 hour earlier than required just in case they have an issue. Always be polite and answer any questions they have. I, also, carry my dropzone's cards with me and hand them out to the TSA agents and tell them to show up, hang out, and maybe make a jump.
Thus far, haven't had too many issues and the 1 time that I did was with a local cop who automatically assumes everyone that doesn't do what he considers "normal" is a bad guy. Gotta feel sorry for someone like that.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[freakyrat 1]

Flew with mine in a kitbag to WFFC on Delta and to Burlington VT with no problems on Continental.

TSA at IAH (Houston) did the wipe down test on both outbound flights and Champaign-Urbana did not. Burlington, VT was no problem as one of the TSA guys was a skydiver from the local VT DZ.

When I fly I carry the Cypres Card TSA and Airline Letters. I have the rig in a kitbag that has an Aux. pack on the front that contains my jumpsuits and other items and i run the rig through separately as suggested. I have had absolutely no problems.

Summing up: This summer has been the easiest travelling with my rig.

Chris

[SpeedRacer 1]

those guys were morons. they shouldn't have given you so much shit about that.

it is perfectly legal to carry a parachute rig on an airline.

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[happythoughts 0]

Read these

USPA

[url "http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1147.shtm"]TSA website

[sundevil777 93]

Even if you have all the right letters, and the screeners accept that the policy is as stated on the letter, they can still require you to unpack your main and reserve. That is reality, it happened to me at Columbus Ohio.

They airline gate agents usually have a roll of really large, really thick plastic bags that are used for late baggage check in of child car seats, strollers, etc. that can be used for checking your rig. The bad part would of course be that your rig is visible and more likely to be stolen.

Having a gear bag is also wise to prevent nervous passengers from complaining about the weirdo with the parachute to security. All it would take is one passenger to express discomfort, and I think they will tell you it doesn't matter what the TSA policy is, you will not walk on with it.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[billeisele 122]

i travel with my gear a lot, in a gear bag in a carry on suitcase, it fits perfect

the only problem I had was when i packed a weight vest, they were convinced that the lead was meant to hide something, after putting everything on and explaing how it works they "let me go"

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[grue 1]

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Having a gear bag is also wise to prevent nervous passengers from complaining about the weirdo with the parachute to security. All it would take is one passenger to express discomfort, and I think they will tell you it doesn't matter what the TSA policy is, you will not walk on with it.

That's all well and good for you normal sized people with small rigs. As it is, my rig will just BARELY clear the carryon size restrictions, and a gear bag big enough to hold it would push it over the edge.

What i do is tighten the leg straps as far as they'll go, then push them together and wrap a pullup cord around them. Chest strap gets threaded through the reserve handle 6 or 7 times and rubberbanded in place. Can't even tell it's a rig at that point, if you're a whuffo

cavete terrae.

[unlucky1 0]

Ditto,
My rig is a big boy rig. If I put it in the gear bag, it definitely is outside of the "legal" carry on limit. I also understand if they want to make me unpack it, they have that right. The bad thing is that I was nice and courteous and they still gave me a shitty time. They looked at their own policy manual while I was standing there and agreed that they were legal to carry on, but only after I popped the reserve. Obviously, I wasn't going to let that happen. I wouldn't have made it in town on Friday, and had the memorial jump today if I did that. I explained in detail what everything was on the rig, and in the rig. They kept talking about something that concerned them inside the rig. When I asked to look at the xray monitor and explain to them what they may be looking at, their reply was "absolutey not". From their description, I explained it was the spring for the reserve . They said to take it out so they could look at it. When I said I couldn't, that is when they gave me my 4 choices. I still think it would've been great at that time to pop the spring in the guy's gut. The guy was a little weasel. I could tell he had some kind of a power trip going on. I used to work in law enforcement and remember people like that all the time. What a shame.

[JumpShipGypsy 0]

I've been through Ted Stevens with my rig about 8 times in the last year. I usually get the "what is it" and "we have to swab it for the chemical testing machine" but nothing more.

I use my company (airline) badge to go through security and in sure that helps some. next time bring the papers recomended by every one here and ask for a supervisor right away.

Chance favors the prepaired mind. (or something like that) good luck. Ben

[Feeblemind 1]

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He comes up to me and asks me to unpack my parachute. I of course decline. He wants my reserve out.

As everyone else has pointed out, have your paperwork. I would have removed my main but asked to keep in in the D-bag. When TSA made reference to the reserve I would have politely explained you are not able to repack the reserve and shown the individual the reserve packing data card.

And now for the dick-head part of me: Why did you wait so long to make your flight? TSA and all the airlines reccomend 90 minutes for domestic and 2 hours for international flights to get through security. Do you think you might have been a little more patient if you new you had an hour to make your flight? Unfortunately some TSA folks see the wires for the AAD and get freaked (the AAD paperwork comes in real handy for that) and unfortunately they do have the right to make you unpack your main. You waiting until 20 minutes to board your flight to get through security was your mistake not theirs, just because they had never seen a rig before is not their problem. If you were properly prepared you could have educated them and most likely been on your way with them thanking you.

Fire Safety Tip: Don't fry bacon while naked

[unlucky1 0]

The reason I waited so long to make my flight: We arrived 2 hours early for the flight. 1 hour in line for the NWA counter. 1/2 hour in the security line. And then 10 minutes trying to "nicely" explain what was in the container. Like I said, They Refused me to even look at the xray monitor to help them explain what was in it. I understand all of you thinking I was a dick to them. I understand they were doing their job. BUT...when they gave me 4 completely unacceptable choices i was pissed. I was still respectful, but pissed. SO yes, I was there early to check in. Turns out that day, the airport was busy as hell. Actually that is REALLY early for Ted Stevens. Ted Stevens is about 1/100 the size of your normal big city airports. I could walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes.

[robr 0]

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He says that there is something that looks like wires in the bag. I tell him it is probably my parachute lines.

I was told by the TSA screeners at Boston Logan that the hard housings for my cutaway cables looked a lot like wires; if that's what they're seeing, it can be helpful to explicitly point them out when the rig is not in the x-ray machine.

[NWFlyer 2]

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That's all well and good for you normal sized people with small rigs. As it is, my rig will just BARELY clear the carryon size restrictions, and a gear bag big enough to hold it would push it over the edge.

My rig's about the same size as yours and I can just barely get it into a roller bag that is the largest legal carryon. The only airline I've had trouble with is Air Canada flights from Canada to the U.S. where they have very strict carryon weight restrictions (10kg/22 lbs) and I have been forced to check it. Gear bag or no gear bag doesn't make a difference in that case as my rig alone already weighs more than that.

As for the original poster, I have found that carrying the x-ray card for my AAD has made a difference more than once. The screeners often have a concern with the battery pack or the unit itself; pointing out what they are seeing on the x-ray card has on a couple occasions alleviated their concerns. Perhaps the "wires" they were concerned about were the wires on your Cypres. Having the picture to refer to can be very helpful. Rigs *do* look odd on an x-ray machine, especially if you've never seen one.

I travel a lot for business. Often I have my rig in tow. I have had all kinds of experiences, from my rig sailing through without anyone blinking an eye, to a supervisor who asked me for my "orders" because she wanted to know why I was carrying the rig.

It's tried my patience a lot of times, but I am always careful to be patient, polite, clear, and firm. I know that they hold my ability to get on the plane with my reserve intact in their hands. It is not a level of control that I like someone else to have over me, and I may have no respect for them or may feel like they are on a "power trip" but ultimately, it doesn't matter how I feel.

Asking politely to speak to the next person up (if it's a screener, ask for their supervisor; if it's a supervisor, ask for their manager, etc.) can help. Sometimes, I've had a screener freak out and call their supervisor over "I've got a parachute here!" only to have the supervisor say "So? Is there something wrong with it?" and the "crisis" is averted quite easily.

I've also helped lots of screeners and their supervisors learn something. With the turnover in TSA, and the relative infrequency with which skydivers come through, many of them have never seen skydiving gear. I also always have the TSA letter with me; a lot of the TSA folks don't know that rigs are legal carryons. You can help your own cause by educating them.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Feeblemind 1]

Thanks for the clarification on the arrival time, my mistake, I apologize.

Fire Safety Tip: Don't fry bacon while naked

[stitch 0]

Maybe it was because you're Unlucky.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[grue 1]

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My rig's about the same size as yours and I can just barely get it into a roller bag that is the largest legal carryon.

Interesting. I brought my rig to Target and WalMart to try and find something I could fit it in, to no avail. Where'd you get yours?

cavete terrae.

[NWFlyer 2]

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My rig's about the same size as yours and I can just barely get it into a roller bag that is the largest legal carryon.

Interesting. I brought my rig to Target and WalMart to try and find something I could fit it in, to no avail. Where'd you get yours?

It's a bag I've had for years - it's a Briggs & Riley brand. I'm not sure the exact dimensions, but it's the largest legal rollaboard size.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Lindercles 0]

I was at Target yesterday looking for a bag. I seriously thought about bringing my rig in, then chickened out.