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There is increasing frustration with TSA patdowns and body screenings that have been deemed necessary for the times in which we live. Some are canceling plans involving air travel over this, others do their best to grin and bare it, and …
.. there’s a contingency that are quite vocal in their feelings that many TSA body searches would be considered sexual misconduct in a different context.
Oklahoma City’s Tammy Banovac is trying a different tactic. The wheelchair-bound retired doctor proudly approached airport security at the Will Rogers World Airport last week in her underwear. Yup, panties, bra, and a little white dog … I think this woman is my new hero.
According to The Oklahoman, the 52-year-old Banovac arrived at the airport wearing a trenchcoat, but disrobed when it came time to go through security – an incident captured by a fellow flier and posted on YouTube.
Banovac chose the more than half-naked approach because she claims she had previously had an unpleasant “hands-on” experience at the airport, reported The Oklahoman.
She says that typically she is hand-searched because she uses a wheelchair; however, she feels violated due to the more invasive searches that have recently been employed.
Is it unpatriotic that I think this is one of the funniest, coolest things I’ve ever heard in my life?
I mean, Banovac knew it was going to be unpleasant, she’d had a prior bad experience, and so she cut the obviously uncomfortable, awkward, and, yes, even humiliating forthcoming patdown off at the pass. I just break out in giggles every time I try to picture this:
Airport spokeswoman Karen Carney told CBS affiliate KWTV that on Tuesday Banovac refused to go through the metal detector after she had stripped down on her own, and that’s why she was once again subjected to a search that included the pat-down.
When TSA agents investigated, they say they found traces of nitrate residue on her body, which Carney said could be from medication, or from hunting, among other fairly common things.
After more than an hour of hand searches and questioning, Banovac missed her flight to Phoenix.
She said a TSA supervisor told her to leave the airport and “come back tomorrow,” according to The Oklahoman.
I guess getting the runaround and ultimately missing her flight drove Banovac to the breaking point, because she returned the next morning in full battle gear—in this case, underwear.
A couple of things here.
First, she should never have been detained to the point where she missed her flight. Airport personnel admitted that anything from medication to the recent firing of a gun could have caused the positive nitrate reaction. If they were that concerned about the trace presence of nitrate, they should have said upfront, “Sorry, but it’s our policy that a positive nitrate test means you can’t fly.” Period.
Prolonged hand searching for an hour, ultimately keeping Banovac from making her flight anyway, just perpetuates the growing legend of TSA authorities as perverse thugs.
Also, is the fact that we’re routinely testing for the presence of explosives something that we want potential terrorists to know? I’m aware of the argument that this knowledge might serve as a deterrent, but as far as I’m concerned it just forces those who might use an airplane for harmful purposes to think outside the box—and the idea that this might lead to widespread use of biological weapons such as anthrax, for example, is very scary to me.
Anyway, Banovac’s lingerie loophole worked out for her—she passed security and made her next-morning flight without incident.
Tammy Banovac’s creative response to shoddy treatment at the hands of the TSA was nothing short of brilliant … and it’s bringing further attention to an issue that’s a legitimate concern for millions of air passengers.
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An HOUR of pat downs? Damn, that’s like a full-on massage! This woman is my new hero.
I can’t imagine being fondled and harassed for an hour without reaching my violent snapping point.
I’m not sure how I feel on all this. I know a few men that have gone through and were “surprised” when their testicles got “rubbed.”
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Perhaps more female TSA officers would help curve the “perverse thugs” outlook. Of-course, I can’t say that has anything to do with the real issues at heart.
You are *supposed* to be patted down by someone of the same sex – though that is definitely not being held to either. It would at least help with that.
There’s something REALLY weird about this woman and this story. First of all, has anyone seen the video? She looks like a robot.
I read somewhere that she was a Playboy model at one point.
Did she get an hour of pat downs? I thought they said she got an hour of security procedure, which includes questioning.
I’m pretty sure the majority of that hour was not spent being pat down.
One point missed by news outlets is that she isn’t a retired surgeon. She was an oral surgeon, but lost her license due to a disciplinary ruling after several patient complaints.
Looking at her in the video, she doesn’t seem 100% there. She really does look like a robot. Has anyone said why she is in a wheelchair? She seems to be in the airport wheelchair, not her own.
[...] with flying these days and the invasiveness that is the TSA. Now, I know that there’s a lot of controversy as of late about the full-body screenings and how it icky makes some people feel – some of them have, you know, what they feel to be [...]
Well, if she got questioned for an hour over nitrates, which if it was residual from medication or hunting was a very small amount, I’ll probably be there an eternity since I work with toxic and explosive chemicals constantly. Yay Chemistry!
I cannot help but think she is a bit of a nut, or perhaps a fame hound, There isn’t a huge amount of information out there about her, but I have to admit that this cracked me up.
Thanks, Tammy!
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On another note, I just finished an article that was very interesting about the TSA’s patdowns of children.
Horrific stuff. I’m strongly suggesting that letters/emails must be sent to every politician in Washington. This is madness.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/airport-patdowns-grooming-children-sex-predators-abuse-expert/