April 8. 2016: The recent TSA incident at LAX — off duty JetBlue flight attendant deadheading back to New York — trying to smuggle 11 packages of cocaine inside one of her carry on bags — street value in excess of $3 million — brought to light that off duty airline flight employees are given a “pass” when it comes to full security screening. The flight attendant dropped the package, kicked off her shoes and ran away out the terminal front door before anyone knew what was going on. The next day, dressed in street clothes, found here way to board another flight from the same airport to New York. TSA says that full screening off duty airlines employees would be expensive and time consuming. Basically, if you’re on the tourist watch list, you get the full screening program; if just a common criminal on the run, welcome aboard!
