Alyssa Milano went through a drama at London’s Heathrow airport worthy of Melrose Place that neither a Charmed witch nor Tony Danza could help her fix.
Milano, who has a 7 month old baby, sought to carry on 10 ounces of breast milk and brought it through security. But she wasn’t actually traveling with her baby.
In her denouement, she shared the troubles with her checked luggage:
Everything arrived at my final destination except my hospital grade breast pump. Filling out a lost baggage claim now.
Britney Spears may be able to take a Big Gulp through security but it seems not all celebrities get Britney’s dysfunction exemption.
(HT: Mediaite)
While we’re on the subject, any advice on how to find out security regulations regarding breast pumps flying out of ICN? So, the Korean equivalent of TSA. Taking a trip later this year and my wife will probably still be pumping then, so she’ll need to carry on an electric pump. It’s a very long flight back ICN-DFW so I’d rather avoid any last minute surprises.
[sexual reference deleted, I do not usually do this often.. -gary]
I don’t know about breast pumps, but my husband flew with a CPAP machine and he had a terrible time at FRA airport. He was pulled aside twice, had his machine dismantled, and had to wait several hours for a medical rep (at the airport) to instruct the agents about a CPAP. Of course he missed his connecting flight. This was done DESPITE having a US doctor’s note, DEPSITE speaking German, and DESPITE being 67 years’-old and a well-dressed, upper-class American attorney.
Nice to know that FRA doesn’t discriminate.
Kimmie, I have always found security at FRA to be very diligent, not nasty or unreasonable. There is no way around safety comcerns, despite appearances.
Years ago I refused to let them x-ray my digital camera and they politely had me wait till they could test for explosives. They politely told me that my yogurt will not be allowed through but offered me a table to sit and enjoy while they assured me no waiting after it was finished.
I also overheard them respond to a Pilot questioning why they were so thorough. He asked if they expected him to place a bomb in his cockpit. They replied that that was imposssible, if he refused to cooperate he would not enter his cockpit.
I prefer security agents that are not swayed by medical notes or appearances.
@Charles,
I totally disagree! I have family members who have artificial joints and one friend who has a metal plate in his head. They have special medical notes and they never have problems. Are they supposed to banned from flying because of hip implants? Also, digital cameras can be x-rayed multiple times with no problems. Just don’t put digital cameras and memory cards thru or even near metal detectors as they use electro-magnetic induction which could damage your pictures. This is the beauty of digital photography. Multiple x-ray machine passes do no harm, completely opposite of film. Film accumulates damage with each x-ray pass.
Completely unacceptable! I would have gone completely mama bear on the TSA (in this case LHR equivalent) if they even suggested touching my milk!
LHR “security” is staffed by consistently the most surly, full of themselves, rude, condescending, power hungry and irritating people of any “security” screening I go thorough. They have zero customer service skills, and do a high disservice to their country’s reputation (and LHR, which is best avoided).
This reaction is completely understandable at LHR and I bet is mostly caused by the way this rule was communicated to her. Yes, it’s a bummer, yes, it may make no sense, but am sure that the security personnel did not emphathize with her but were their usually, surly condescending selves escalating this to global news. And if history repeats itself, the Brits won’t do anything about the sad state of LHR security personnel.
An ex-senator of my state had TSA troubles with his artificial hip while going through airports. His doctor note wasn’t taken serious.
@”Good service”, safe to assume you’re American? Safe to assume you know all the rules inside and out in the US, but maybe don’t know all the rules in a foreign country inside and out? For me, it’s certainly safe to assume that the attitude I get from the TSA will be worse than the attitude I get at Heathrow security. I know both sets of rules like the back of my hand so the only difference is attitude. TSA are worse than Heathrow security, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week… and for the record, Heathrow is my home airport and I fly in and out of here *a lot*. You just need to know the rules of the game.