Don't touch me on my handbag, (Oslo, Norway)

[scanhorse]

International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was involved in an embarrassing and expensive spat with airport security in Oslo at the end of a state visit to Norway this month when she refused to pass her handbag through an x-ray scanner.

As a result she missed her scheduled commercial flight from Gardermoen International Airport to her next diplomatic engagement, in Bulgaria. A private-charter executive jet that was then hired to transport her cost the South African taxpayer R235 343, according to a figure released by the department of international relations and co-operation.

An Oslo-based travel agent, Airbroker, confirmed that a one-way charter flight to Sofia could cost as much as R260 000 for an executive jet, depending on its size and the number of passengers on board.

more........................

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-16-dont-touch-me-on-my-handbag/

[scanhorse]

Minister ‘lacked judgment’ in scanner fracas at Oslo airport

An international relations expert says international relations and co-operation minister should have used "better judgment" when she allegedly refused airport security in Oslo to scan her hand luggage

more......................... Oh Yes

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=153685

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56123975@N05/6113271397/in/photostream

[scanhorse]

Hand baggage ‘a threat to lives

Air accident investigators have expressed concern at how passengers are putting their lives at risk by insisting on taking hand baggage with them during emergency evacuations from aircraft.
It follows publication of an official report into an incident when smoke filled the cockpit and cabin of a Ryanair aircraft on landing at Kerry Airport on Dec 21, 2010.
The Boeing 737 aircraft was on a flight from Stansted with 170 passengers and seven crew on board.
The acrid smoke became so dense on the flight deck that the pilots put on their oxygen masks. One officer reported that the smoke had affected the back of his throat.

more..........................

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/hand-baggage-a-threat-to-lives-185594.html