Flying with Corkscrews

Wirtz, Virginia - With the meetings of the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club in Monterey, California this weekend and the International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts in Virginia next month, we know a lot of corkscrew collectors will be taking to the air.

The April 30, 2003 bulletin from the Transportation Safety Administration advised:

The following items will not be allowed through the security checkpoint. Please note that this list is not all-inclusive. In addition to items specifically listed here other items that may be deemed to present a potential threat may also be prohibited.

A long list followed and listed between Compressed Air Guns and Cricket Bats were Corkscrews.

A bulletin from May 24, 2002 stated:

Vacationers commonly carry items to airports that slow the screening process. Such items include scissors corkscrews pocket knives and mace. TSA asks that travelers leave these items at home.

The July 24, 2003 TSA list of permitted and prohibited items gives a thumbs up to corkscrews in carry-on and checked baggage. You can't, however, put a Compressed Air Gun in your carry-on bag but you can check it. The same goes for cricket bats.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Administration's current policy is:

Items such as corkscrews, scissors, and tennis racquets are examples of articles that are not permitted in your carry-on baggage. Unidentifiable liquids, such as homemade wine, are also not permitted in your carry-on baggage.

Among the items Air Tahiti will confiscate are "letter openers, scissors of any kind, tradesman's tools, screwdrivers, corkscrews, darts and knitting needles."

Local airports can have their own rules. Santa Barbara, California says "...restriction includes knives, cutting tools of any kind, scissors, corkscrews, metal nail files, straight edge razors..."

Here are some of the items confiscated at Nevada's McCarran International Airport:

In February 2003, San Francisco Gate reported that the state of California was selling confiscated items on ebay under the name "CaliforniaGold2000". By the time of the report they had sold 594 corkscrew taken at California airports.

On April 2, 2003 The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan announced that it would auction "thousands of knives, scissors, corkscrews and nail clippers taken from them at security checkpoints."

You'll find a prong puller amongst the items confiscated at JFK International Airport (left photo) and did any good corkscrews get left at the Louisville, Kentucky airport? (right photo):

Items confiscated at Florida's St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport

Items confiscated at Billings, Montana airport

Items confiscated at Tampa airport

Have things changed since September 2001? Can you now take corkscrews on board your flight?

During the first five days of September 2003 the Richmond, Virginia airport confiscated 106 pairs of scissors, two torch lighters, one box of strike-anywhere matches and a colorful assortment of pocket knives, corkscrews, Leatherman tools and box cutters

It has been reported that 622,000 items were seized by security screeners at U. S. airports in July, 2003.

We suggest you ship your corkscrews to your destination in advance of departure and ship home what ever corkscrews you accumulate during your visit.

---

News Index

---