I have an airside security badge for Inverness EGPE. A passenger has to produce a driver’s licence or passport to be issued with a temporary pass to accompany me. Problems with some kids.
The UK CAA are ramp-checking GA aircraft occupants. A farm-strip aircraft was checked on shutdown at Wick, before the solo pilot could get his pass from the FBO. The just said it would be OK when he got it.
At another Highland Airport, I had to go to a gate, and go through screening, before returning to my aircraft to depart, although I had never left Airside.
That sounds like the twat at Norwich who confiscated my toothpaste upon arrival (arrival). I bought a new tube and it was confiscated again upon departure. He and his mate had a big laugh about it. Both flights were TB20, from Shoreham and to Shoreham. Admittedly this was some years ago (nowadays you go via Saxonair, IIRC, and pay quite a bit more for the smooth processing) but it shows that these “security” professions self-select heavily on character profile and the individuals normally enjoy the job, especially the aspect where they can bellitle people older and sometimes bigger than them.
Because there is an endless supply of people who like this soft of work, this stuff will never go away.
I have never experienced something like that. At Innsbruck we had to go through a rather cumbersome screening, including the body search, and everybody had a good laugh about the absurdity of it all. But it was friendly and good humoured.
EuroFlyer wrote:
I have never experienced something like that.
You’re fortunate.
Rwy20 wrote:
Sir_Percy wrote: So there is no way a private pilot can obtain such a card.Why would that be? I am just in the process of getting an airport identification card for Zurich, so I don’t have to ask one of the handlers each time to accompany me.
Fine for one’s home airport, but not practical for every large airport one plans to visit. Sounds like a (possibly unintended??) way to kill GA at larger airports.
Agree with the comments that something to cover this has been done one way or another at most major airports, using techniques that vary from one extreme to the other. There seems to be some consistency of approach within a given country, but each country tends to have its own way of dealing with private pilots and pax at the major airports. In Italy we tend to get a personal escort to guide through all the locked doors up to the tarmac, and then we are left on our own to wander all over the place on the way to our aircraft.
So, Peter, let me get this right: when visiting friends in the Democratic and Popular Republic of East Anglia, we can carry sporting guns and ammunition in our airplanes (in accordance with the ANO), but not a tube of toothpaste? 
ELLX has a separate area for light/club/sport/private GA, with its own entry gate. This is separate from the business aviation terminal (which is also GA, but a different kind of GA).
There used to be security personnel and we were randomly searched on entry. A machine decided whether each person was searched. Now, the area has been designated with another level of security, our access cards open the gate without human supervision and we have the right to issue boarding cards and temporary access cards for our passengers and visitors, respectively. If you are a member of a club (even a non-flying member) or have a hangar in that sport GA area, you fulfil the “operational need” criterion. You do have to go through the airport security course every five years. Funnily enough, they pretend that the 11 September 2001 terrorists were the first to get the idea to crash an airliner on a city, and that it was a big surprise for the security forces worldwide. When you challenge them and mention Air France Flight 8969 they kinda look at you weirdly for knowing that. They are under the impression that the AIG’s plans were not made public. In reality, the French 8pm news covered that back in 1994.
The only downside to the previous system is that our gate has become one of those turnstiles that you can barely fit a tall/fat human through, so luggage takes some planning and effort to pass through. There is a car gate, but that requires a special airport driver’s licence.
Outside of home base, I’ve seen all these solutions applied:
Peter wrote:
Because there is an endless supply of people who like this soft of work, this stuff will never go away.
It’s not just the work they like, it’s the whiskey. Stupidly at Warsaw Modlin I left a bottle of Lithuanian Whiskey in my luggage. On departure, escorted personally by the handling agent, my bag was still x-rayed and the offending item had to be removed. Perhaps they thought I had it for use in flight? To make sure that didn’t happen, they confiscated it and placed it very, very carefully in a special shiny bin. Big smiles all round, except mine, but no point in making a scene and perhaps enjoying a more prolonged stay in Poland.
Aveling wrote:
It’s not just the work they like, it’s the whiskey. Stupidly at Warsaw Modlin I left a bottle of Lithuanian Whiskey in my luggage. On departure, escorted personally by the handling agent, my bag was still x-rayed and the offending item had to be removed. Perhaps they thought I had it for use in flight? To make sure that didn’t happen, they confiscated it and placed it very, very carefully in a special shiny bin. Big smiles all round, except mine, but no point in making a scene and perhaps enjoying a more prolonged stay in Poland.
That was ridiculous. There has to be an supervisor around if that didnt work I would take it with me anyway. let them arrest you for bringing on fluid onto your own aircraft. What would the idiots do if you had a Qt of oil for the airplane?
I saw something even more stupid ( I think it was in Friedrichshafen ).
The guy before me in the security queue had a box of chocolates in his luggage. They told him it wasn’t allowed as it was classified as liquids! It was a box of Celebrations….not even chocolates with liquid centres! He didn’t object and was about to let them be thrown out, when he asked “Can I eat them instead?”. Sure no problem. So he stands there eating one or two, then the security officer tells him he can actually take them with him to the boarding gate once he eats them all before boarding the plane! So off he goes munching away.
20 minutes later I notice him at the boarding gate, dutifully chomping away at the chocolates!
