Brits Ban Cameras on Planes

[anabasis]

I wouldn't mind the checking thing so much if 3 things happened:

1) the airlines could cut down on the rampant theft by airport employees of items in checked bags (and since there are no locks allowed in the US on bags, it's pretty easy to do)

2) the airlines could actually manage to get the bags to me without losing them. This happens far too often

3) the airlines took finiancial liability for all items forced to be checked, provided they are given a list and declaired value.

I can't imagine checking my work documents, computer and about $7000 of camera gear every time i try to fly.

JCA

 

[enochRoot]

From one point of view it's not the government restricting our freedom, it's the terrorists who threaten the passengers lives which have to be protected.

all of life (since the beginning of time) is a threat. i'd rather have the choice in my hands, rather than safety imposed on me. we aren't ever *really* safe...we just get that illusion spoon-fed to us.

At Lockerbie, Scotland, an ordinary radio or cassette player in the cargo hold of a Pan American plane carried a concealed bomb that was set off and blew up the aircraft and everyone on it...Even a small Kodak could be used to hide an explosive, so why take a chance?...

right...the key words here are "in a cargo hold". how does stopping carry-on baggage stop the threat?

Gee, all this after realitive calm for the last few years, and the US midterm elections only months away...

quite a coincidence, eh?

Would a change in power in the US affect British antiterrorist measures😕

of course it would!

 

[enochRoot]

I'm guessing this'll increase drunken assaults on fight attendants as well. Imagine long flights with passengers unabale to entertain themselves with iPods, CD players, laptops, Gameboys, DVD players, cellphones ... though I guess unwrapped facial tissue and tampons could be entertaining for a while.

i guess i'll have to stock up on valium, and float through the travel experience :angel:

 

[traveller]

Well, if somebody is going to bring weedkiller as a carry-on in an airplane, I'd be just a little suspicious. I can see why a ban would work: takes the "thinking" off the equation. Cost-effective too. Thank you, all who fought for our freedoms, we're all doing the best to keep your sacrifice by saying "we give up, let's ban things".

There are a lot more dangerous chemicals in everyone's household or even in the handbag of a lady 😱

But seriously, I don't think a ban would work. If they really would ban the boardcase, how about implants. Could the ban them? Or how about a little bit of biological or chemical warfare? No way the police could get them all even when they politicians take all our rights away.

IMHO they are just careful in case there are some more of them around and that's OK with me. I will start complaining when the talk of new, senseless, laws

 

[enochRoot]

How long before people can simply injest the liquids in timed dissolving bags? The future of air travel looks bleak.

with oil production peaking, it will become prohibitively expensive for most people soon, and then (the already struggling) major carriers will start dropping like flies anyhow (*not from the sky...as in out of business). this will probably add to those woes though, and maybe speed up the process!

 

[RML]

Everybody is talking about taking out insurance but insurance policies don't cover more than a certain amount of value (day value, mind you, not new value). My travel insurance covers no more than some 8000 euro, and that inlcudes everything: cameras, laptops, personal audio equipment, watches, glasses, clothes, etc. Add it all up and you'll see you've got more money's worth than you expected. R-D1... Eu 2000, Carl Zeiss 50/2... Eu 1000, CV 25/4... Eu 250, iPod... Eu 300, laptop... Eu 1750, watch... Eu 150, glasses... Eu 250, clothes... Eu 500-1500, etc. etc. The list goes on and on, and just for myself. Ever thought of traveling with your family?

Now we're supposed to load it all in cargo? And have it stolen by the luggage handlers? Or sent to the wrong place and have to wait for it 3 months?

Ban flying to the US or the UK for a few weeks and let's see how quickly this becomes an economic disaster for both countries.

 

[jaapv]

I still have the freedom to buy my own plane or car and bring my cameras in there if I want to. I realize that with co-traveling comes risks that needs to be mitigated.

Ok Rich, let's go shares on a 747. I can't afford to buy one on my own. What I mean to say is that some freedoms are meaningless if encroached on. Which means that if the terror groups manage to disrupt our society this way, causing governments and the public to overreact and go paranoid (I tend to suspend judgement on the current situation, btw) they don't even have to blow up airliners to reach their goals.

 

[jaapv]

Everybody is talking about taking out insurance but insurance policies don't cover more than a certain amount of value (day value, mind you, not new value). My travel insurance covers no more than some 8000 euro, and that inlcudes everything: cameras, laptops, personal audio equipment, watches, glasses, clothes, etc. Add it all up and you'll see you've got more money's worth than you expected. R-D1... Eu 2000, Carl Zeiss 50/2... Eu 1000, CV 25/4... Eu 250, iPod... Eu 300, laptop... Eu 1750, watch... Eu 150, glasses... Eu 250, clothes... Eu 500-1500, etc. etc. The list goes on and on, and just for myself. Ever thought of traveling with your family?

.

Remy, join the Fotobond. They have a very affordable real-value camera insurance for members.

 

[RML]

How long before people can simply injest the liquids in timed dissolving bags? The future of air travel looks bleak.

Every international airport worht its salt has body scanners to scan the body cavities of suspected drug traffickers. Soon there'll be a time every passenger will be scanned prior to take-off.

 

[RML]

Remy, join the Fotobond. They have a very affordable real-value camera insurance for members.

Jaap, that's a good idea.

I've found out there's a photo club just around the corner from where I live. I have to drop in there one of these days and join. 🙂

 

[Socke]

all of life (since the beginning of time) is a threat. i'd rather have the choice in my hands, rather than safety imposed on me. we aren't ever *really* safe...we just get that illusion spoon-fed to us.

right...the key words here are "in a cargo hold". how does stopping carry-on baggage stop the threat?

This time the threat is a bomb mixed up from liquid chemicals brought onto the plane by different persons. If those liquids are in the cargo hold they don't have access to them to mix up something explosive in the toilet.

Of cause, one can bribe the maintenance and/or cleaning personal into depositing what is needed on the toilet long before the passengers board ....

 

[jaapv]

You can join the Fotobond as an individual member for, if I remember correctly, 29 Euro's a year and the insurance is 1.5 or 1.75 %

 

[RML]

Putting my camera gear in the hold versus carrying it with me next to the arab with the liquid explosive...hmmm, tough one!:bang:

Can we curb the racial slurs? Why does it always have to be an Arab or a Muslim? Who blew up that building in Oklahoma? Who blew up have of London not so many years ago? Who is killing who anywhere in this world? Not just Arabas or Muslims, right? So, mind your mouths.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

To change the subject slightly, I'd feel more comfortable if we could talk about cameras and photography here and avoid making blanket statements about political parties or ethnic groups.

Point(s) well taken (and looks like I missed some of that). I think this is slightly related to photography, I mean, some carry cameras and do travel photography, and well, a lot of equipment isn't just something that can be picked up at a gas station.

But again, you're right. At least in my case, it's hard not to "overreact" because all of this sets precedent. If we just sit there sucking our thumb the bad guys and the seemingly good guys are going to do as they please.

.....

So, purple nitrile or latex, Dave? 😀

 

[RML]

This time the threat is a bomb mixed up from liquid chemicals brought onto the plane by different persons. If those liquids are in the cargo hold they don't have access to them to mix up something explosive in the toilet.

Of cause, one can bribe the maintenance and/or cleaning personal into depositing what is needed on the toilet long before the passengers board ....

Or use a membrane that slowly lets 2 or more liquids mix. No need for an "operator" at all. All you need is a timer and trigger. 10...9...8......3...2...1... POOF. Easy as pie, and nothing you can do about it. No matter how many rights you take away or privileges you curb, there'll always be ways to blow up people. My advice, don't travel by plane for now, at least not to/from the UK or the US.

 

[enochRoot]

This time the threat is a bomb mixed up from liquid chemicals brought onto the plane by different persons. If those liquids are in the cargo hold they don't have access to them to mix up something explosive in the toilet.

Of cause, one can bribe the maintenance and/or cleaning personal into depositing what is needed on the toilet long before the passengers board ....

oh...i guess i didn't realize it was something where different people had different admixtures, and needed to physically mix the stuff up. i thought it was an explosive that happened to be liquid, and could be detonated remotely, or via a timer.

btw...wasn't this ring brought down by "extensive surveillance". if that is the case (as it seems normally to be)...what do these procautions help. ie: it's not that they just caught these dudes at the aiport via a screening process...

 

[Socke]

My travel insurance covers no more than some 8000 euro, and that inlcudes everything: cameras, laptops, personal audio equipment, watches, glasses, clothes, etc. Add it all up and you'll see you've got more money's worth than you expected. R-D1... Eu 2000, Carl Zeiss 50/2... Eu 1000, CV 25/4... Eu 250, iPod... Eu 300, laptop... Eu 1750, watch... Eu 150, glasses... Eu 250, clothes... Eu 500-1500, etc. etc. The list goes on and on, and just for myself. Ever thought of traveling with your family?

On all my flights there was a weight limit as well as a size limit on my carry on luggage.
When I flew to Cuba in 2004 with a notebook, a DSLR, a Contax G2 and TVS this alone was 10KG and so double that what was allowed on the plane.

Thanks to the press pass I had then and a friend who is an editor at a local magazin I got admission for 10KG photoequipment to be carried on board. But I had to deposite my photobag with the cabincrew because the closets on the Boeing are good for max 6KG and I don't want my bag falling out of the closet hitting me on the head anyways 🙂

 

[Socke]

oh...i guess i didn't realize it was something where different people had different admixtures, and needed to physically mix the stuff up. i thought it was an explosive that happened to be liquid, and could be detonated remotely, or via a timer.

btw...wasn't this ring brought down by "extensive surveillance". if that is the case (as it seems normally to be)...what do these procautions help. ie: it's not that they just caught these dudes at the aiport via a screening process...

Yes, luckily the plot was uncovered in time, no screening process today is capable of finding the chemicals in question. The swabbing is for typical explosives, not for exotic chemicals which can be mixed to become explosives.

I'm positive that I won't have any problems to take my Contax Gs and enough film to brazil next year 🙂

 

[Ash]

I've sent an email to the department of transport to see whether I get a reply regarding carrying camera film and cameras on the flight. If I actually GET a response, I'll post a thread that could be stickied?

 

[RML]

Oh, the BBC mentions: <i>Sources at the Department for Transport have indicated that these current restrictions on hand baggage could become permanent.</i> So much for temporary measures.