Flying and a Personal Locater Beacon?

Anyone know if I can carry in my checked baggage a Personal Locater Beacon (not a spot if that makes a difference)?

I'm going to call the airline tomorrow - but they've been wrong before =(.

For what it is worth, I have never heard of any restrictions.

Don't place it in checked luggage. If it is lost or stolen, the airlines will not pay for its loss per the terms of the airline's Contract of Carriage. Put it in your carry-on and it should not be a problem.

I called the airline and they've never heard of any such thing (is it a GPS?). I'd just hate to get in and have them say no. Course even if somone over the phone says I can carry it, and I get out there and on the way back they say no - what can I do?

Hate flying.

It shouldn't be an issue. Just pack it in your carry-on. Print out a copy of the brochure listed here: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

If TSA gives you a hard time, ask for a supervisor and point out that it is not a weapon, explosive or incendiary, which is what they are tasked to keep off planes. If that fails, also ask for your airline's GSC (Ground Service Coordinator). I really don't think that you should have a problem with it. But don't back down.

Call the PLB manufacturer and ask them for advice. As uncommon as these things are, you just KNOW the TSA is going to give you a hard time. They won't have the slightest idea what it is and won't want it on the plane.

People take all kinds of weird electronics on the plane every day. Many flyers need them for their work such as diagnostics. It shouldn't be an issue. One caveat is whether it uses a 9v battery since the TSA is examining a bit more closely those electronics, but will still let them pass through.

That is the main problem - it is a sealed container. When it needs a new battery I send it back to the manufacurer... Hey, there is a thought - some of the (s)MAC laptops are like that too. And I assume they let you fly with one of those (though why you would want to is beyond me <evil grin>).

I think I'll get to the airport a bit early (both directions) and either give it back to the husband or mail it back if they give me issues. Now to find out if San Jose has a post office in the airport BEFORE the security check-point.

I laughed at the idea of a locator beacon being lost.

I take all kinds of electronic crap all the time. The only thing they care about is if it's a bomb, gun, or liquid not in ziploc bag or over the allowed amount (because terrorists hide in large shampoo bottles and are foiled by 1 litre ziploc bags)

If they've never heard of it before, they're gonna let you on
with it. I wouldn't worry a bit about it. and I wouldn't ask ahead of time.

I have been trying to figure a reason why a PLB might be an issue and can't think of one. My only advice is to make sure that there is no possible way you could accidentally set it off! One of my crew members set one off accidentally mid-flight one time and it made for an interesting next few hours. Had it not been Christmas Day it might not have been quite the issue it was, LOL.

MNS a/k/a Dixie Moon

The reasons I thought there might be an issue are:

Sealed battery compartment
No "off" button (though by default it is off)
Weird looking (cuz you know you make things bright yellow that are dangerous and sneaky)
It can transmit location
It had to be shipped to Alaska by ground only - it was airship restricted

Thanks!

I'm not sure that is good advice. In my PhD work we made experimental apparatuses that we would have to bring with us from UCLA to NASA's test facility in Cleveland (to fly on the vomit comet). Once a lab-mate got kicked off the plane in Detroit and that was before 9/11. The good news for Heather is this is a commercially produced item, so they probably won't be suspicious of it. I doubt you will have a problem, but it is a good idea to be prepared. No one (on the forums, at the airline, or even the TSA) can tell you exactly how the TSA agent you get is going to react.

Really! Very interesting. I understand your concern now.

MNS

Can you send it ahead to your destination? (ground only, I guess).

It is often a good idea to have a preadressed stamped container in which you can mail something that TSA objects to. That might mess up your schedule, though.

If all else fails, do the trip without the PLB, which is just what you would expect to hear from someone most of whose experience was gained before the PLB (or TSA, for that matter) era.

Please let us know how it goes. I have not heard of any problems with PLBs and TSA.

I like that!

From the ACR Electronics FAQ:



http://www.acrelectronics.com/support/faqs/personal-locator-beacon-faqs/

The sentence I bolded shows what is wrong with the TSA.

Why is that wrong ndsol? closing and locking the cockpit door securely and not opening it even if people in the cabin are being whacked solved all the 9/11 security problems.

the TSA performs it's intended function - to keep the sheep afraid, and therefore malleable, and used to inconvenience and arbitrary loss of rights. It's good to have the sheep not question authority. If the TSA were predictable it wouldn't perform that function as effectively.

You are absolutely correct, phat. That is what the TSA is about. Keeping the sheeple scared so they are so concerned about taking a PLB on a plane that they ask here and call the airline. It is very sad as the TSA is almost purely security theater.

I will add one more item that solved the 9/11 problem: Passengers will not longer be complacent with hijackers, but will now fight back. It started with UA93, then the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, and also the Christmas Day underwear bomber.

If you want to see TSA in action here is what happened to me last year landside: Interrogated and Detained at IAH for Photographing

Didn't passenger non-complacency actually begin with Flight 93? Up to that point, hijacking had meant a detour to Cuba, not the end of your life....

Yes as I mentioned in my post that it started with UA93. It was a paradigm shift that occurred in just a couple of hours that September morning.

Heather, how did this work out for you?

I ended up talking the husband into a one time exclusion to the rule (if I hike alone I'm supposed to have the PLB.) The whole thing of hiking with Wandering_Daisy worked out anyways, so I didn't hike alone.

So I didn't even try to fly with it. =)