Evil TSA Baggage Screeners at Springfield Regional Airport

[Dr. Fish]

Man am I steamed at whichever dullard TSA screener at the Springfield, MO regional airport checked my fly rod tube at 5:15AM this morning. When they put the rods back into the tube they forced them in so hard they stripped off several guides and broke the blanks on both of the rods in the tube!!! One was a Winston LTX 9' for 5 and the other was a Partridge 10' for 6. Both were in near new condition. I am so ticked off. With the force it took to do this kind of damage, they knew what they did but didn't care.

I'm kicking myself for not UPS'ing the rods home and I know full well that many of the folks the TSA hired are the bottom of the barrel. God only knows how long the claims process will drag on IF I get paid at all. several years back they shattered a pair of $250 glasses when the screener dropped by bag from 4' and despite their obviously wrong doing, it took some 15+ months to get paid on those.

Good news is that the fishing in around Mt. Home was ON FIRE!!!

[Valhalla 1]

It makes you wonder just how protected you are by a bunch of people who don't give a crap about you.

[softhackler]

It makes you wonder just how protected you are by a bunch of people who don't give a crap about you.

You got that right!!!! Wow.

[J Castwell]

'Fishy',,, If anyone has the clout to do something, it might be you. Let some folks 'upstairs' know about those goons.
As I see it now,
EVERYBODY STAY OUT OF SPRINGFIELD MO.
Let me see now Mr. Mayor, do I have this right? All fly fishermen should,
STAY THE HELL OUT OF THAT CITY, SPRINGFIELD, MO?
Gosh,,, I hope the mayor doesn't get to see this!!!!!!
(be terrible if someone emailed this WHOLE THREAD to his office!

[lylelovett666]

Very sorry to hear that J.This terrifies me.I'm flying to Chile next month and plan to do some fishing.Now that J has told this grim tale does anyone know how to avoid this horrible scenario?

[J Castwell]

Well, for starters,,, stay out of Springfield MO. airport!

[nighthawk]

Man am I steamed at whichever dullard TSA screener at the Springfield, MO regional airport checked my fly rod tube at 5:15AM this morning. When they put the rods back into the tube they forced them in so hard they stripped off several guides and broke the blanks on both of the rods in the tube!!! One was a Winston LTX 9' for 5 and the other was a Partridge 10' for 6. Both were in near new condition. I am so ticked off. With the force it took to do this kind of damage, they knew what they did but didn't care.

I'm kicking myself for not UPS'ing the rods home and I know full well that many of the folks the TSA hired are the bottom of the barrel. God only knows how long the claims process will drag on IF I get paid at all. several years back they shattered a pair of $250 glasses when the screener dropped by bag from 4' and despite their obviously wrong doing, it took some 15+ months to get paid on those.

Good news is that the fishing in around Mt. Home was ON FIRE!!!

I do not blame you for being mad. You have the right to be. However, what makes you so sure it was someone form the Transportation Safety Administration that did this? It could have been any one of a dozen or more government, airline or airport employees that did this. Like perhaps a baggage handler that was actually trying to steal your gear and jammed it back into the tube/tubes to avoid being caught? Stuff like that happens quite regularly. I would be plenty mad too but I would make darned certain who did this before placing any blame. As far a crushing a pair of $250 dollar glasses just by dropping them 4 feet were they in a hard shell protective case?

If a Transportation Safety Administration employee did this it will be on video tape. You can contact them here:

http://www.tsa.gov/

I use UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL all of the time. They damage their fair share of freight too. Not beefing about it because it happens but I always insure my shipments. We us those agencies everyday to ship freight around the world to our troops. They do a great job as does the T.S.A. with our Seavan Containers for overseas shipment.

[Dr. Fish]

As far a crushing a pair of $250 dollar glasses just by dropping them 4 feet were they in a hard shell protective case?

The genius screener picked up my briefcase and then dropped it 4' to the concrete floor. This was a soft sided notebook computer bag that goes inside another bag. The bag also contained a $3500 notebook computer among other things. The weight of the bag and the height of the fall and the angle of the impact popped the hinges of the glasses case, crushing it and the glasses inside. How the compter survived the fall I'll never know.

Back to the rods . . . As for who did it, I'm bet the ranch that it was the TSA screener who I know pulled the rods out. Why am I so confident? Because I spend a LOT of time in airports and have pelnty of first hand experience with those that were hired by the TSA. I fly between 70,000 and 120,000 miles per year. Yes, there are plenty of good folks but there are also a TON of folks who have no business in that position. Their language, attitude, mannerisms and so on make that very clear. I know a few TSA guys and they have shared horror stories regarding the quality of many of the hires. Used to be you could watch the checked luggage get checked but now it's behind closed doors. I was amazed at how TSA folks would handle someones personal property in public and can only imagine just how much worse it could be behind closed doors.

If a baggage handler for the airport or airline was going to steal the rods, they would have stolen them. I know full well that many in the chain can handle luggage poorly and also that accidents happen.

I use UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL all of the time. They damage their fair share of freight too. Not beefing about it because it happens but I always insure my shipments. We us those agencies everyday to ship freight around the world to our troops. They do a great job as does the T.S.A. with our Seavan Containers for overseas shipment.

I use UPS all the time as well and they are certainly not perfect but at least I can insure property for what it's worth and if there is an issue I know it will get resolved fairly and quickly. The same cannot be said for TSA.

Now I would not go so far as to say nobody should travel to or through Springfield airport but I would caution folks to keep an eye on baggage they handle.

[Dr. Fish]

Very sorry to hear that J.This terrifies me.I'm flying to Chile next month and plan to do some fishing.Now that J has told this grim tale does anyone know how to avoid this horrible scenario?

Best bet it to take the hard cases that your rods came in and keep one rod per tube and buy a bag that will fit the rod tubes needed. That way they are handing one rod at a time which will greatly reduce the odds of abuse or an accident. My issue was that they tried to jam 2 rods into a tube and just didn't take the time to do it properly. If I had the smaller tubes, one per rod, it probably would not have happened.

[J Castwell]

I'm sorry, just what did I miss here? Why is it that the Mayor and the head Chamber of Commerce should not read this whole thread?