Passenger In A Wheelchair Was Detained, "Extensively Searched" At Florida Airport

A 95-year-old woman clearing security at the new Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Panama City last weekend was reportedly detained by TSA and required to remove her adult diaper before being allowed to board her flight.

The woman, who according to family members is in the late stages of leukemia, was on her way to Michigan to be with family members. Jean Webber said her mother weighs only 105 pounds and is barely able to stand.

The Panama City News Herald reports that TSA said it could not comment on specific cases, but spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said that wheelchairs trigger "certain protocols" that include pat-downs and swabs for explosives. She said that "if there is an alarm, then we have to resolve that alarm."

The nonagenarian was reportedly first taken to a glassed-in screening area, and then to an enclosed area for the most sensitive part of the search. Weber said at one point a TSO came out and said that her mothers diaper was soiled and impeding their search, so it would have to be changed. The family did not have a clean garment with them, but Weber assisted her mother in complying with the TSO's demand.

Koshetz told the paper that the search was conducted according to established procedures and in the interest of national security, and that elderly passengers could not be excluded "because we know from intelligence that there are terrorists out there that would exploit that vulnerability."

Weber says that she plans to file additional complaints. She said that if those are the rules and regulations, then they need to be changed.

FMI: www.tsa.gov