News : Heathrow issues must-be-charged gadget advice

[Anonymous]

Headline : Heathrow issues must-be-charged gadget advice.

"Heathrow Airport has told passengers to ensure all electronic devices carried as hand baggage are charged before travel if they are flying to the US."


Read more here ;

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28193654
Source ; BBC news.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully all problems with this new procedure are ironed out before I head to Vegas again next year!

So...I hope they are willing to wait 10 minutes while my phone powers up haha! And what about Kindles, iPads, tablets, laptops, external hard drives, external CD drives, mice, keyboards, etc...all of which are capable of holding explosives!

I understand why they are doing this but the practicality of it and the delays its going to cause don't appear to have been considered.

[Anonymous]

My son recently travelled to Las Vegas and Las Angeles.

He only took his phone.

On the News this morning they were using a wand scanner on laptops etc.

Thing is if it does not power up I wonder whst they would do with the gadget. Can't see them saying plug it in and let's see. I can see the rising line of people with some tutting !

Better being safe than deal with the ramifications of what could happen I submit. 😞

[jonsie]

A terrible sign off the times but sometimes I do worry that the terrorists are one step ahead of all the measures being put in place. There is already heightened security at most airports now and in my mind I'm quite happy to go along with this to ensure passenger safety.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thing is if it does not power up I wonder whst they would do with the gadget. Can't see them saying plug it in and let's see. I can see the rising line of people with some tutting !

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Exactly! Although I think it might rise above tutting when people start missing their flights, which is almost guaranteed with the introduction of these measures.

Are they going to confiscate anything that doesn't power on? What happens if your phone battery has died whilst travelling? 

I have to agree with Jonsie though, it had crossed my mind that this is probably already being circumvented by criminals/terrorists.

[Cleoriff]

I heard on BBC news this afternoon that these devices have to power up 'To prove there is a working battery'

One airport security spokesman did say, if they do not power up, they will not be allowed on the plane....

So...on the last day of your holiday I would imagine you are going to need a charger for every device (NOT one for all of them) and plenty of power sockets

And to think...usually on the last day of my holiday all I used to worry about was packing my case and if it is going to be under the weight limit

[aldaweb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thing is if it does not power up I wonder whst they would do with the gadget. Can't see them saying plug it in and let's see. I can see the rising line of people with some tutting !

Better being safe than deal with the ramifications of what could happen I submit. 😞

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The report I heard was that items that didn't power up were being allowed to be posted home, where they would of course be subject to the carriage rules of Royal Mail.

Prohibited goods – items you can't send through the post. | Royal ... Lithium ion/polymer/metal/alloy batteries are allowed when sent with or contained in/connected to an electronic device, but are subject to packaging, volume and ...

[Anonymous]

I really would have thought putting the item in storage at the Airport until one returns back off the trip would have been a better solution, depending if one was returning to the same airport etc.

From the link

"British Airways has said that its customers face being made to rebook if they are found in possession of an uncharged device."

[Cleoriff]

On tonights news British Airways have gone one step further.

They have stated that "If the devices we check do not power up, the owner of said devices may be refused access to their flight"

Looks like it will be a long frustrating holiday period for many people...:smileysad:

I am not being dismissive about any type of security issue. All I hope is the training for security staff is comprehensive and standardised across the board. Over the past few years I have used many airlines from various airports. Security measures being implemented are open to many different interpretations!

[Anonymous]

Personally I would rather they secured the flight so if charging your phone or tablet etc before flying is what it takes them so be it.