How did a man board a Tampa-bound flight with a box cutter?

TAMPA, Fla. - Transportation and Security Administration employees who allowed a man to board a Tampa-bound plane in Cincinnati with a box cutter after removing the blades have been placed in a training status, according to the TSA.

On Friday, a plane headed to Tampa from Ohio was forced to land in Atlanta after the TSA says a ‘disruptive’ passenger on board was found to have a box cutter on him. 

A TSA spokesperson says the traveler, who has not been publicly identified, showed security agents a temporary Ohio driver’s license that had been renewed once. He also presented two backpacks and submitted additional loose items into a bin to be screened to board a plane headed to Tampa.

The TSA says the man’s items were screened with CT technology which creates a 3-D image that can be turned 360 degrees for a thorough analysis. Following a review of the incident, including closed-circuit television (CCTV), the TSA says the image review capabilities of the CT were not fully used. 

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According to the TSA, the box cutters were not identified by the CT operator, but the man’s property was identified for further search. During the search, one box cutter was discovered and the TSA says visible blades were removed from the box cutter and provided back to the passenger. 

The TSA says this is contrary to the standard operating procedure which requires these items to be placed in checked bags or voluntarily abandoned. The TSA says the backpack containing the other box cutter, and the remainder of the traveler’s property, was screened for explosives, but the box cutter was not discovered.

The man was allowed to board the plane and the flight departed from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Friday evening and headed toward Tampa. However, Frontier Airlines said the plane was diverted to Atlanta after the man became ‘unruly’ and his box cutter was located. 

According to officials with Frontier, the plane landed safely in Atlanta and the passenger was taken into custody by Atlanta law enforcement.

No passengers or crew members on board were injured, flight officials said. All passengers were deplaned and were provided with overnight hotel accommodations in Atlanta. 

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The TSA says its employees that were involved in this incident have been placed in a training status for remediation on CT image review and physical search procedures. 

The TSA is also conducting shift briefs on the incident for all CVG and State of Kentucky employees, with reminders on the proper disposition of box cutters and other prohibited items discovered during the search. 

According to the TSA, statewide refresher training is being scheduled for CT image review, with emphasis on the use of image rotation and manipulation tools for optimal detection. 

Nationally, the TSA says it will issue a shift brief for all screening employees on this incident with reminders on the use of the technology tools and prohibited items.  

After spending the night in Atlanta, the passengers on board the plane arrived in Tampa on Saturday morning without incident. 

Officials with Tampa International Airport released the following statement about the incident:

On Friday, November 11, 2022, at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST, a male traveler approached the TSA checkpoint at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) with a ticket for a flight to Tampa International Airport (TPA).  The traveler provided identification including a temporary Ohio drivers’ license and, once reviewed, proceeded to physical screening.  

He presented two backpacks and submitted additional loose items into a bin for property screening.  The property was screened using CT technology which creates a 3-D image that can be rotated 360 degrees for a thorough analysis.  Following review of the incident, including closed-circuit television (CCTV), the image review capabilities of the CT were not fully used.  The box cutters were not identified by the CT operator, but his property was identified for a further search.  During the search, one box cutter was discovered.  The visible blades were removed from the box cutter and provided back to the passenger. This is contrary to standard operating procedure which requires these items to be placed in checked bags or voluntarily abandoned.  

The backpack containing the other box cutter, and the remainder of the traveler’s property, was screened for explosives, but the box cutter was not discovered.

The TSA employees involved in this incident have been placed in a training status for remediation on CT image review and physical search procedures.  TSA is also conducting shift briefs on the incident for all CVG and State of Kentucky employees, with reminders on proper disposition of box cutters and other prohibited items discovered during search.  

Statewide refresher training is being scheduled for CT image review, with emphasis on use of the image rotation and manipulation tools for optimal detection.  Nationally, TSA will issue a shift brief for all screening employees on this incident with reminders on use of the technology tools and prohibited items.