DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

[jason1]

I was stupid enough to leave it in my work bag. Bad move. Spent half an hour in security being interviewed. Just don't bother bringing it.

[adafruit]

I was stupid enough to leave it in my work bag. Bad move. Spent half an hour in security being interviewed. Just don't bother bringing it.

jason,

that's not really a fair thing to scare people about when hundreds if not thousands of people have traveled with mintyboosts all the time (customers email us all the time). a few questions about any type of electronics is not unreasonable, a half hour is something we've never heard of (we can imagine any time wait feels long of course).

can your provide any facts at all, what they asked, why, what airport, what was the outcome, etc? that would be helpful besides an ALL CAPS scary title.

from personal experience of flying hundreds of thousands of miles with almost every kit you've seen here at adafruit i've not be delayed more than a few minutes asking all reasonable questions. the mintyboost has been out for 5+ years by now, flying with electronics isn't a problematic (there are only a handful of examples where it's been an issue based on millions of likely screenings). and before everyone piles on the TSA --- i know it's fun and easy to poke fun at the TSA but the majority of people working the screening areas are good at their jobs, yes - there are always the rare ones like any profession that need better training and we're sure there will be some rare event where someone without proper training overreacts too.

any way, please do not scare people here and if you choose to - please be more specific so we can all learn about your experience with more details.

thanks,
adafruit support, phil

[jason1]

I didn't intend to scare anyone. I apologize for the capital letters in the title.

I was interviewed for 25-30 minutes. I was interviewed by a TSA agent, then his boss, then his boss, then the Homeland security bomb detail. I am not exaggerating.

They didn't ask many questions. Name, why I was flying, what it was, etc. They spent most of their time running tests and taking pictures, then waiting for the bomb detail.

I was there for a science conference, showed them my credentials and conference info, and was sober.

This was at Indianapolis airport, Sunday.

They told me not to fly with it anymore, in fact they said do not fly with any modified electronics. If you have to, check it. That's what they said, not me. They did let me take it on the plane, and I was able to board.

In my post I did not denigrate the TSA at all, please re read it. I said I was stupid, not them. I was actually happy that they take security so seriously. I prefer it that way.

I like your company, and don't want to hurt your business at all, you've been great. I don't want anything, I'm not mad at anyone, just letting you know.

I probably should have emailed you instead of posting here, and for that I am sorry. I can delete these posts if you prefer.

Jason

[adafruit]

that's an extraordinary story, thank you for providing some more details, this is the first and only one we've heard like this, ever. did you get any of the TSA staff's info? we'd like to talk to them directly since traveling with a AA battery charger (assembled kit or bought at the apple store) does not warrant "the Homeland security bomb detail". at the most a quick swab, or worst case, removing the batteries would have been the usual and most reasonable thing to do. we don't know any more details than what you've told us, so we won't guess if there are any circumstances outside what you provided.

the TSA is there to serve and help all of us, if they need to be educated on what harmless hobbyist electronics are that amazing people are making and sharing, it's our job to help them too.

please email support@adafruit.com with the details, we will follow up with with the indianapolis airport.

just to put it in context, both ladyada and i travel with bags full of kits, carry on and checked on, around the world, and we also look like gothy weirdos - we've never had anything even close to this occur. when i was full time at MAKE magazine i was also traveling around the world with all of these types of items and the only thing that was ever odd (once) is a TSA agent asked if they could keep my copy of MAKE magazine they saw in my bag since they liked to do electronics themselves too (i gave it to them and my biz card). the maker community is chatty, if this was a common occurrence we'd all know about it. the only close one i am aware of this story from awhile back:

http://blog.makezine.com/2011/08/10/tsa ... -mint-tin/
http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/08/wierd-scien ... made.html/

as far as policy goes, here's a direct quote from the TSA:
http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/03/traveling-w ... dgets.html

"We're not implying that you cannot travel with these types of items, we're just pointing out that they could be of concern, or possibly even hold you up a little bit. Listen, we think these things are cool too, but this is just a friendly "heads up" and not a threat." - Bob (TSA) EoS Blog Team

thanks,
adafruit support, phil

[jason1]

I emailed.