Traveling This Holiday? Here are Some Things You Should NOT Attempt to Take Onto an Airplane

While most Americans know by now that carrying a gun-shaped knife, a sword cane, a set of Batarangs, or bear repellent onto a commercial airplane is a bad idea, apparently it hasn’t quite clicked for some passengers…

Wired:

Hardly a day goes by when someone, somewhere doesn’t try boarding a flight carrying something stupid. Like, say, a loaded 9 mm handgun packed into a computer. Or a baggie of weed stashed in a fake Coke can. The TSA social media team chronicles it all in the amazing, and alarming, TSA Instagram feed. You can expect TSA agents to be busy this week as 49 million people take to the skies for Thanksgiving.

The TSA Instagram feed launched three years ago, and since then the TSA has posted more than 1,000 photos to its 514,000 followers. The TSA employee in charge of the account hasn’t lost their sense of humor yet, as each photo carries a (usually humorous) caption.

Three #batarangs were discovered in a carry-on bag at the Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO). It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic… Oh, what the heck. We’ll laugh anyway!

A photo posted by TSA (@tsa) on Nov 15, 2016 at 12:23pm PST

“There’s a bear in the air” is CB slang for a police helicopter. There are no actual bears in the air. This is a reminder that bear repellent is prohibited in the cabin of an aircraft. You can pack bear repellent in your checked bag if the volume is less than four ounces and if it has less than a two percent active ingredient of either CS or CN. Most bear repellents exceed these limitations. #TSATravelTips

A photo posted by TSA (@tsa) on Nov 6, 2016 at 3:54pm PST

In addition to items in carry-ons, some passengers are also confused as to what type of foods are allowed to be carried onto a plane. To help them device, the TSA offers a Twitter account, (@askTSA), where curious citizens can tweet a photo of an item and find out if it’s allowed on a plane.

Have you ever debated about whether or not you can pack eggs? No need to walk around on eggshells… Now you can simply snap a picture and tweet it to @AskTSA or send it via Facebook Messenger and our team will get back to you promptly with an answer. If you’re a regular follower of this account, I’m sure you can think of many situations where it would have behooved somebody to send us a picture first. And that’s not all. Contact us about any TSA related issue or question you might have. We can even help you with TSA Pre✓® issues. We look forward to answering your questions, 8am-10pm ET weekdays; 9am-7pm weekends/holidays. #AskTSA #TSATravelTips

A photo posted by TSA (@tsa) on Nov 16, 2016 at 11:41am PST

(We’re guessing a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers are OK, but a fully operational Turkey Deep Fryer is a no-no.)