TSA worker plants bag of white powder on student as a "prank"

[chrissyisme]

Student Recounts Frightening Incident At Philadelphia Airport

CBS News Interactive: Eye On Air Safety

A college student returning to school after the winter break fell victim to a prank at Philadelphia's airport by a Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to plant a plastic bag of white powder in her carryon luggage

The worker is no longer employed by the TSA after the incident this month, a spokeswoman said.

Rebecca Solomon, 22, a University of Michigan student, wrote in a column for her campus newspaper, The Michigan Daily, that she was having her bags screened on Jan. 5 before her flight to Detroit when the employee stopped her, reached into her laptop computer bag and pulled out the plastic bag, demanding to know where she had gotten the powder.

In the Jan. 10 column for paper, she recounted how she struggled to come up with an explanation, wondering if it was bomb-detonating material slipped in by a terrorist or drugs put there by a smuggler.

"He let me stutter through an explanation for the longest minute of my life," Solomon wrote. "Tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him to understand that I'd never seen this baggie before."

A short time later, she said, the worker smiled and said it was his.

The worker "waved the baggie at me and told me he was kidding, that I should've seen the look on my face," she said.

Solomon said she asked to speak to a supervisor and filled out a complaint, and during that process was told that the man was training TSA workers to detect contraband. Two days later, she said, she was told he had been disciplined.

"I had been terrified and disrespected by an airport employee," she said. "He'd joked about the least funny thing in air travel."

There was no answer Saturday at a telephone listing for Solomon at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. An e-mail message seeking comment from her was sent Saturday by The Associated Press, and a telephone message was left at her parents' home in suburban Philadelphia.

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis told The Philadelphia Inquirer she did not dispute the student's account and said the employee was no longer with the agency, though she declined to say whether he had been fired or quit. She also declined to identify the worker or his job title, citing privacy laws.

TSA Worker Plants White Powder On Student Flier In 'Prank' At Philadelphia Airport - wcbstv.com

[Penny Lane]

What an ass.. who the fuck does that? That's like a doctor telling you you have brain cancer as a practical joke.

[heart_leigh]

That's a nasty prank to play on somebody. Jerkoff.

[buttmunch]

Good to know the TSA continues to hire the cream of the crop. I can't believe these assholes are in charge of things that could impact our lives.

[ikmccall]

If a passenger made a similar joke, they would probably get arrested. This douchebag only lost his job.

[Brookie]

I'd get a lawyer on this immediately. This is so not funny, it's so wrong, especially with travel in the dire situation it's in right now. I don't care if the guy has been relieved of his duties, the TSA remains responsible for the conduct of its employees while they are on the job. This guy might not get anywhere, but I wouldn't let this go.

[celeb_2006]

Don't get me started on these TSA turds.

One semi threatened me a few years ago because I didn't push the tray through the x ray machine (it wasn't my fault as some other TSA turd barked at me to go through the body scanner before I had a chance to push the tray through).

[visitor42]

That TSA asswipe should be jailed, not just fired.

[xXull]

What an ass.. who the fuck does that? That's like a doctor telling you you have brain cancer as a practical joke.

LOL