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Troy Thompson
The Pennsylvania Department of General Services sells items -- such as these knives -- left behind at aiport security checkpoints.
Betty Spencer doesn’t travel much, but she’s curious about what happens to items confiscated or surrendered at airport security checkpoints. “There are so many stories of people having to give up items,” Spencer, a patient accounts counselor in Spokane, Wash., wrote to Overhead Bin. “I wondered if any of the items could be donated or recycled. I would hate to think of so much waste.”
The Transportation Security Administration does indeed end up with a lot of stuff: Since 9/11, the TSA has detected approximately 50 million prohibited items, including 4,600 firearms, during airport checkpoint screening.
Hazardous materials are disposed of, and dangerous or illegal items such as guns and explosives are turned over to law enforcement. But travelers do have some say in what happens to other items.
“TSA offers passengers multiple options at the checkpoint for prohibited items that are less dangerous and not illegal,” said TSA spokesperson Greg Soule. “Passengers can return them to their cars, pack them in checked baggage, or at some airports, mail them home to themselves.”
More often than not, travelers end up surrendering their items at the checkpoint. After that, Soule says, the items end up being donated to state governments “to be auctioned off or sold as revenue. TSA in no way profits from surrendered or lost items at the checkpoint.”
Some states, such as Pennsylvania, operate a brisk and profitable business selling items left behind at airports in the state – and beyond.
“Not all states have a program that’s large enough to accept all the items left at airports,” said Troy Thompson, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. “But we do. And we receive pallets of items from New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports and from some airports in Ohio and Maryland.”
Thompson said all the items Pennsylvania gathers end up at a warehouse, where it’s sorted.
“We get a lot of pocketknives, scissors and corkscrews,” said Thompson, “but also frying pans and other cookware, and tools such as drills, saws, hatchets and machetes. Some of it makes you scratch your head and wonder how people thought they’d get those things on the plane.”
A sampling of the items are put out in a store at the state warehouse in Harrisburg, but most of the items get sold in lots, by weight, online at auction. Since 2004, Pennsylvania has earned about $700,000 from auctions held for many years on eBay and, soon, on govdeals.com.
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Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
Ahhh this corrupt government of ours is going to take your money any way they can
If you think this is bad, you should look up what happens to "lost" checked bags. Those get sold off as well.
My cousin just returned from his honeymoon. On the trip, he had purchased several expensive clothing items. Every single one was stolen from his checked bag on the return flight. Fortunately, they had kept the receipts of all of their purchases but he would have preferred his clothing to a reimbursement check.
common sense dude hasn't much of a common sense, did you read the article at least ? TSA proposes to mail them the item, check them, or return them of the car. What else would you expect ?
Such a moronic comment.
Obviously Betty didn't see the news story a few weeks ago about the rent-a-cops at the airports taking the items and selling them for their own personal gain.
What happens Betty, well I'll tell you what happens.The PHONY SAFETY GOONS at the airports take the goodies home.
Nothing like grocery shopping at the airports and taking whatever the Hell you want.IT'S NICE TO BE PHONY GOON at the airport, not only are they USELESS, they get to steal your goods to.
What happens - whatNL do you think happens - the government has given a bunch of thugs a license to pilfer and steal - you get robbed, they do a good Saturday business selling your stuff at the local flea market or to their neighbors. The main difference between the TSA in 2011, the KGB in 1970, and the Nazis in 1940 is the color of the uniforms.
Oh please, you're actually comparing TSA agents to the KGB and Gestapo? That has to be the most ridiculous idea I've ever seen posted.
Agreed!
The KGB and Gestapo at least had some smidgen of ethics, warped though they might have been.
Norm is a good German citizen. Go back to sleep nothing to see here.
Actually, I'm a good American citizen. Are you kidding, Neil? The KGB and Gestapo had a smidgen of ethics? Yeah, I guess deciding to kill and torture people based on their race, religion or politics count as "ethics". However, last time I looked, TSA agents do none of those things.
"TSA agents are like KGB agents"... Do they allow internet access in your hospital ?
I work at a major hospital in PA, and we offer wifi service to our patients, I am not sure what you mean about the TSA. What do they have to do with internet access in hospitals? Like all government agencies, there is a lot of pork that needs to be trimmed and a lot of policies that need to be reassessed. I would not say they are doing their best, but at least they are trying, unlike ten years ago. Let us all remember while we are enjoying our freedom of opinion, until ten years ago we all thought that we were invincible and now are trying to figure out how to protect ourselves. Like a homeowner that has just been buglarized, the government agencies are over-reacting but at least they are reacting.
As "hospital" I meant mental hospital...
After a visit to me, my sister left some items (too fragile to pack in checked baggage) at security by accident. She did not realize that the items were missing until she got home (in another state). After she identified the items the TSA told her that she could arrange for me to pick up the items on her behalf. The situation was handled cordially and it was easy enough to carry out the transaction.
That's only because you are June Cleaver. Nobody would be rude to June Cleaver, or they would have to deal with Eddie Haskel.
Doesn't surprise me that they make money off of the personal belongings paid for by the travelers.
It's good to see that most of you are fooled by this propaganda. But there's more to the TSA than skimming the valuable stuff at the checkpoints. There is another group that Xrays the checked luggage, and some are marking the bags that have the real goodies like cameras and laptops. Then their buddies down the line remove the valuables along with the tags. Since there's no tag, you never get your bag and notice the missing parts. All you know is, the airline lost your bag. The evidence is shipped to Alabama where what's left is sold. The folks in Alabama have noticed a striking trend since the formation of the TSA. When they go through the lost bags, they're not finding much in the way of expensive items anymore. I'm sure all are not in on it (thieves are not big on sharing), but it is happening.
TSA Perverts and thieves.
There are obviously exceptions, but it's hard to feel sorry for anyone stupid enough to try to bring a machete onto a plane...
you can't take a frying pan in your carry on... wtf???
yea all pans are considered nofly unless the tsa dosnt need a new one
Not to shine a bad light on good workers, but for others it's a shopping spree, whether taken from checked luggage or confiscated at a checkpoint. I wonder how many things were surrendered that were legal carry-ons, people just too fearful to question.
And the TSA reassures you that any expensive items that are of any value are safely tucked away in a secure place in every airport so that no one has any access to them!!
I have seen things taken by employees as I watch someone go though the check point an place in their own pocket. I can tell you as a former employee at a airport it is not as honest as they seem to be.
... which naively presumes the TSA staff don't simply STEAL it ... And you have no recourse ! Remember all those they hired right after 9-11? The worst of the worst in terms of personal appearance and likely profiles - so guess who they profiled as payback ?
I wonder who got my ex wife? I leftr her with TSA.
She was shipped to another location, probably to be auctioned off.
Ohhhh you two are too funny... really, the best laugh I've had all day. Thanks.
Ok, I want to see the
statistics on how many planes have been brought down by
cookware!
AND why would someone have
cookware in their carry-on?
You're one of the last to get onboard. The TSA agent looks at your $300 micrometer, a tool used for precise measurements, and tells you; (A) you can put it in your checked baggage: which has now loaded on the plane. (B) Put it back in my car: Are you kidding? (C) I can surrender the item, never to be seen again.... I asked if there was a way to mail it and the agent smirked, rolled his eyes and said... 'yeah, right...
I've thought that the TSA and the United States Postal Service could come up with a 'ship it home' option where one could mail their item home,right at the gate. They could charge $20 for a video tape size box and most people would pay it. But that wouldn't be as much fun as it is to spend many thousands of dollars collecting, storing, shipping and finally selling all of these things. Smarten up....
In that they thought I was a threat with my micrometer, I later found that all of the equipment that I had placed in checked luggage, had been ransacked and anything at all that had a 'point' to it, like electrical test leads, was broken off. That was the last time I flew, the last time I will fly, I lost thousands of dollars; never again.
Ditto! I have no reason to fly...why be insulted by minimum wage/intelligence people who think they own me because I want to get in a cigar tube and hurtle across the sky at 350 mph with a bunch of rude and obnoxious people who haven't showered in days/weeks, and have kids that won't shut their pie-holes?
And then there are the stewardesses! Old...ugly...fat and rude!
Used to be that flying was a nice way to travel, people dressed decently for the trip...kide were on their best behavior and people went out of their way to be courteous and pleasant. Stewardesses were easy to look at, smiled and were congenial, and actually appeared to truly give a hoot about the passengers.
Thanks but not thanks...I'll drive. And if the only way to get somewhere is by plane...I'll float. I'm done!
Did you know that they allow up to 9" long knitting needles....
Yeah, those long sharp, pointy things that could easily kill someone.
Go figure that one out.....
wait?... i thought they didnt even alow saftey pins.... but 9inch skewers are ok?
Everyone who gets on a plane has weapons. Anyone who thinks they don't is living in dreamworld. Keys, creit/debit cards, shoe laces ballpoint pens. All easily converted into lethal weapons withing 10-30 seconds.
Pennsylvania has "made" 700k on items from NY. Who paid the freight to get it to Pennsylvania? How much was thrown away, and what did that cost and who paid it?
Took a tour of the Illinois department equivalent to PN's. Gaylords (large shipping boxes about 1.3 square yards) full of lighters. They had to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Funny that they quit confiscating them. Must not be a security threat anymore.
But they confiscate frying pans?
Sur frying pans...God forbid some one should decide to cook themselves a meal in-flight! LOL!!!
This is government gone totally stupid. The man who lost his test equipment, etc., should be reimbursed for the replacement cost. If TSA is so stupid they don't know what engineering equipment is like and the value of it, they should be shot! This confiscation of property is actually unconstitutional. TSA should bear the cost of sending these items to the owner and place it in a shipping box in the presence of the passenger, who is given a receipt with the declared value. If the items mysteriously do not make it back to their rightful owner within a week, TSA should give the owner the monetary value of replacing the items.
Useful information, but hardly newsworthy.
i havnt seen anything news worthy in the last three months
just a bunch of drugys gathering to protest aginst the result not the cause. oh yea a comunistish leader was killed by a rebelion... go figure
the rest is this dumb filler news that seems to make me feall dumber after reading it :/
Use a spell checker or go get your GED.
My boyfriend is a TSA agent at the small local airport. I am very proud of the work he does. We discuss his job regularly and I know he is an honest person. I'm sorry for all of the hassels others may have had, but please do not lump everyone into one group.
Your boyfriend is a slave ,he is a government stooge but in this economy sometimes you have to lower you values to survive. That's what happened in Nazi germany and our gooberment is doing the same thing here. A job is needed to survive (have to pay that debt somehow)and if it means invading the privacy of americans and stealing from them in the name of safety and security just so you can eat you do it.
Good luck in the future to both of you.
most likely the tsa agents steal them and take them home. quite the job they have. see something you like make up an excuse to confiscate it then steal it at the end of your shift. obamas national theft squad.
the article says items that are, and i quote"less dangerous and not illegal" the people can pack them in checked luggage. well if they are not dangerous or illegal why are they taken in the first place? more of obamas neo nazi muscle flexing?
We all realize that 9-11 made all this BS necessary, but there should be a better way to handle it than we now have. I have had two unpleasant experiences. The first time I had a very small nail clipper that had a knife-like attachment that was no lomger than 1 inch, if that. The inspector said it was not allowed and took it and walked over to a large container that was for these items. He looked my way and thinking I wasn't watching, stuck it in his pocket. The second time I had a large container of sun-block that I had just purchased and used once. The female inspector had a look on her face like that she had just discovered gold. It was of course confiscated and I am sure she enjoyed it especially because it was free. The feeling of being ripped off tends to over come any patriotic feeling one might have about all of this stuff. I walked away both times with the feeling that I had just been robbed.
I hate to burst your bubble...but you are no safer on a plane today than you were on 9-10-01...this is all window dressing. TSA and all the rest is just show. All it's done is provide employment for people who couldn't even get hired at Wally's World or K-Mart.