You should see who goes down in the radio room. Ba-dum-ding. Submarine jokes: there's a million of 'em :). --

There, fixed that for ya... ;)

Shipwack, another ex-bubblehead who really wishes he could read the accident/incident report on this one...

Not to mention that they don't prohibit lighter or matches on airplanes, which he was using to attempt to "detonate" the shoe bomb.

Why are matches allowed, but a can of soda is a security threat? Because the cigarette industry whined that the 2 minutes that a person couldn't smoke upon leaving a plane was costing them money, so an item that actually was used in an attempted terrorist attack is effectively unrestricted.

Having been in the military, and actually involved in real security duty, I can assure you that almost all of the TSA restrictions are theatrics to show they are "doing something", and counter-productive at worst, including the liquid restrictions. Small volumes of liquids can't cause catastrophic damage, outside of a movie or TV show. While there are liquid explosives, they are neither easily obtainable, or easily made outside a laboratory. But... let's say this magic substance existed, and that it was only the fact that you can't bring more than a quarter ounce of liquids on board that keep a terrorist from manufacturing them in flight. The TSA regulations are -still- stupid because nothing prevents several people from bring a quarter ounce each and combining them. Or one person bringing a quarter ounce in a shampoo bottle, a quarter ounce of "medicine", a quarter ounce of "toothpaste", etc...

Stickle bricks are best used as caltrops against an unsuspecting parent in the middle of the night.