The TSA scans some 3500 bags at Eppley each day. They say every bag that goes on board a plane goes through security.
The TSA scans some 3500 bags at Eppley each day. They say every bag that goes on board a plane goes through security.
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The TSA scans some 3500 bags at Eppley each day. They say every bag that goes on board a plane goes through security.
We all know the airport security drill — take off your shoes, empty your pockets and finish that water bottle. But how do we know the bags going under the plane are screened and safe?
When passengers take off, they trust their baggage is in the plane's belly.
"You drop your property off, you’ve got absolutely no idea where it goes," said Brian Schilhabel, the TSA’s Federal Director of Security for Nebraska.
Hopefully, it goes to your final destination. However, Omahan Deb Price knows that is not always the case.
"At the baggage claim, we stood there and watched it go round and round and our's was not there," said Price, who made it home from Mexico with her husband, though their bags trailed a day behind. "Your flights get changed, your luggage gets lost, but you just have to be flexible."
Like thousands of passengers leaving Omaha each day, Price trusts TSA and their airlines with her property when she travels.
"After it leaves us checking it in, I have no idea, really," said Price.
TSA wants to be transparent about what happens on the other side of the conveyor belt curtain.
"There are a lot of security checks involved,” said Schilhabel. “There's a lot of background checks involved."
Schilhabel took KETV NewsWatch 7 behind the scenes, to see where your bags are screened before they are put on the plane.
"Very similar to what you would see in a hospital with a CT scan for a medical procedure, we've got a very good 3D image of the contents of that bag," said Schilhabel.
The technology used is ever-evolving.
"A lot of the rules and regulations we have about airport security today have really stemmed from previous events that have occurred in the aviation industry," said Becky Lutte, with UNO’s Aviation Institute.
TSA works in tandem with the airlines. Passengers check their luggage with the carrier, then TSA does their security screening, and then it is back in the airline's hands.
"The chances that TSA is involved in your lost luggage is incredibly slim,” said Schilhabel. “It is only in our custody for minutes and it is in that controlled environment."
They check some 3,500 bags a day at Omaha Eppley Airfield, and about 20% of those set off alarms. They see everything from loose firearms to living animals.
"Maybe 300 bags a day, we actually have to open," said Schilhabel, adding surveillance cameras capture that whole process.
Post-covid travelers are flying high, at pre-pandemic rates. However, staffing shortages have bought the airline industry down to earth. A new website from the Department of Transportation breaks down major airlines’ policies for customer service when things go wrong.
"That rebound happened even faster and bigger than the industry anticipated,” said Lutte. “So we now see a strain to the system."
Schilhabel claims staffing shortages don't slow down checked bag security.
"I really only need to have two or three officers down in the checked baggage area compared to the 20 or 30 I need to have up in the checkpoint," he said,
As airlines handle all the baggage, passengers like Price are learning to roll with the travel punches.
"My advice would be to hang on to that luggage claim check, cause you might need it," said Price.
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