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Nipple rings now a no-no for flights?

Xstatic1

Xstatic1

Diamond Member
LOS ANGELES - A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

"I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone," Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way."

Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.

The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin's chest, the Dallas-area resident said.

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

Screening handled properly, airport concluded
She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.

Applying pliers to the torso of a mannequin that had a peach-colored bra with the rings on it, Hamlin showed reporters at the news conference how she took off the second ring.

She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.

Full article
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UPDATE: March 29, 2008:

LOS ANGELES ? The Transportation Security Administration said it will change they way its officers search passengers with body piercings after a woman complained she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane.

Mandi Hamlin, 37, had demanded an apology and her Los Angeles-based attorney sent a letter to the TSA this week requesting a civil rights investigation.

Hamlin said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a TSA agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.

The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin's chest, the Dallas-area resident said.

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

Hamlin was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring. She said the officer gave her pliers to remove the ring, a process which caused a lot of physical pain.

The TSA said Fridday in a statement on its Web site that the officers properly followed procedures, but that the procedures must change. In the future passengers can either allow a visual inspection of their piercings, or remove them, the agency said.

The statement stopped short of apologizing to Hamlin.

"TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself," the agency said in a statement. "We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."

An after-hours call to Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, was not immediately returned.

source
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Additional discussion in P&N
Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy
 
I hate TSA douche bags. TSA to security is like Geek squad to computer repair. And why the fuck do TSA people have pliers?
 
I don't think nipples are dangerous, but I don't see anything wrong with what the TSA requested, either.
 
I haven't been on a flight recently but I've never set anything off with my nipple ring. Went thru the metal detectors with no issues.

And looking at her pics, I definitely wouldn't want her to undress in front of me. Ugh!
 
They let a belly button piercing go through, but no nipple piercing? Asshole TSA agents. Female agent seemed to just let the men take control.

+
 
Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.
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*** Looks at article ***
*** Looks at picture ***
*** Looks at article ***
*** Looks at picture ***

Does not compute!!!
 
Originally posted by: bctbct
another plane was saved :roll:
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Yes, thank goodness they're keeping us safe from more than 3 oz of liquid and nail clippers.

"False hope! I love it!"

Not genuine security, but an incredible imitation!
 
You should add another poll:

Do you think Mandi Hamlin should wear a nipple ring?
A) HECK NO
B) YES (i.e: I like cougars that can mandhandle me in to submission, or: If for some godforsaken reason I am forced to have sex with here, I can use the nipple rings to poke my eyes out)

 
I find it funnier that people actually wear this stuff to the airport. When I went on my first flight, I kept my watch and other metal items in my carry-on. So you can't wear them to the airport? Big flippin' deal. I can put the stuff back on as soon as i sit down and wait for the flight.

Same for her. She could have just as easily made the process easier for everyone and put the items in her carryon or luggage. When she got wherever the heck she wanted to go, she could have put them back in. She was stupid IMO.
 
Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
I find it funnier that people actually wear this stuff to the airport. When I went on my first flight, I kept my watch and other metal items in my carry-on. So you can't wear them to the airport? Big flippin' deal. I can put the stuff back on as soon as i sit down and wait for the flight.

Same for her. She could have just as easily made the process easier for everyone and put the items in her carryon or luggage. When she got wherever the heck she wanted to go, she could have put them back in. She was stupid IMO.
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You expect us to actually think in advance? What are you, an elitist or something?!

Not that some of the regs aren't uhh.. questionable, but we all know the basics; no difficult to remove metal is hardly a new concept in passing through airport security. Apology, ok I can see that, but it seems this is hardly worth a "human rights investigation"
 
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