How I (Accidentally) Brought "Weapons" Aboard Two Aircraft In A Row
It is just a testament to how some simple social engineering can allow anyone to bring anything onto an aircraft. (Minus explosives perhaps which would probably set off some deafening alert sound or so I would assume.)
This is how it went down...
I purchased a full manicure kit in Shanghai, China. Lots of sharp, pointed, stainless steel objects in an easily accessible case. A huge no-no on any flight I have ever been on since 911, and I knew it.
I would never normally pack that in my carry on, but my loving girlfriend decided to do the honors for me and by accident she must have placed the manicure kit in the carry on.
We get to Shanghai airport and immediately upon going through the metal detector, I am asked if there is anything sharp in my bag.
I innocently say no, because as far as I knew I didn't. After 5-10 minutes of looking through my carry on. There it was, the manicure set, shit.
I don't know why but I pleaded with them and they let me keep it surprisingly. So that's how I got it onto the first plane. In China. A dumb look and some national pride let me keep my "weapons".
Next stop, London. But not before I grab some booze at the duty free!
Unbeknownst to me, if you are changing planes or stopping over on your trip and you buy a bottle of alcohol on your first plane, make sure that bottle is sealed with red/identifiable duty free tape, otherwise it will cause a shit storm at your next destination.
So I show up in London, carrying my manicure set and bottles of liquor... am about to go through the metal detector again... when to my astonishment, they start asking me questions about the liquor, not what's in my bags.
This turns into a situation where literally everybody working behind the xray scanners is looking at me now, with their fingers on their radios, because I am the idiot who has two bottles of potential explosives in his hand.
After another minute or two of explaining my situation, they seal the alcohol in their own duty free bags and just tell me to be more attentive next time.
Meanwhile, my manicure set has slipped clean through the xray scanner, and I am on my way to boarding another plan, in London of all places.
a) Why did the Shanghai airport not automatically inform Heathrow that I was carrying a potential weapon?
b) Why are people watching xray screens permitted to be distracted whatsoever? They should be working on a lazy boy toilet fitted recliner in a quiet room.
TL;DR Causing a distraction at the xray booth, allows numerous carry on bags to get through without being checked.