security directive

TSA issues new security directives for all flights inbound to the U.S.

January 3, 2010 By Dennis Schaal 9 Comments

The TSA issued new security directives, effective Jan. 4, for all U.S. and international carriers with inbound flights to the U.S.

Here are the publicly available highlights from a statement the TSA sent to me:

* Every individual — i.e. 100% — flying into the U.S. and traveling from or through countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism “or other countries of interest” must go through “enhanced screening,” the TSA says in a statement.

However, despite today’s TSA statement about the new security directives, there was nothing as of 4:40 p.m. EST Jan. 3 about the new rules on the TSA website.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: screening, security directive, TSA, TSA website

Did TSA ghost-write @FlyingWithFish tweet? Twitter coercion?

January 2, 2010 By Dennis Schaal 21 Comments

UPDATE: Less than an hour after posting this story below, a source familiar with aspects of the TSA investigation confirms Tnooz speculation that TSA agents were in Frischling’s home on the evening of Dec. 29 when he tweeted a request to the source of the leaked security directive to contact him.

Steven Frischling, one of the two travel bloggers subpoenaed by the Dept. of Homeland Security and visited by TSA agents after publishing a security directive, tweeted Jan. 2 that he can’t comment on the “author” of a controversial tweet, issued from his account, at 10:05 p.m. on Dec. 29.

While two TSA agents likely were in his home at the time and allegedly were threatening to terminate Frischling’s ability to work with the airline industry unless he divulged the source of the security-directive leak, the Dec. 29 tweet from the FlyingWithFish Twitter account said the following:

“To the gentleman who sent Flying With Fish the TSA Security Directive … Thank You! Can you drop me an email?I have a question. Thanks-Fish.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: DHS, FlyingWithFish, Northwest flight 253, security directive, Steven Frischling, TSA, Twitter coercion

TSA plays hardball with airline blogger over security directive

December 30, 2009 By Dennis Schaal 25 Comments

UPDATE: A few minutes after posting the story below about how the TSA was using pressure tactics to get KLM blogger Steven Frischling to comply with a subpoena, two TSA agents visited his home again and took his hard drive, with his consent, Frischling says.

Travel blogger Steven Frischling, a self-employed photographer who also writes the Flying With Fish and KLM blogs, says two TSA agents delivered a Dept. of Homeland Security subpoena to him Dec. 29, two days after he published the Christmas Day TSA security directive and warned him they would contact KLM over the issue if he didn’t comply with the subpoena and that this would end his ability to work with the airline industry.

Frischling, speaking a day after the visit by two TSA agents to his Connecticut home, says their implied threat was that he would be considered a security risk if he didn’t turn over his e-mails and computer hard drive and failing to do so “would sever my ability to work with the airline industry.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Elliott, DHS, security directive, Steven Frischling, subpoenas, TSA