Knife Ripped Off From Luggage

4

.45acp

Joined
May 25, 2002
Messages
1,331
Warning to Air Travelers

Between Baltimore International and Brazil, a LLC DA auto was clipped from my luggage. Two MTs were left untouched. In fact the LLC was in between the two MT`s. New in the box.
Thanks to American Airlines that some how managed to see that the bag missed a flight with a 3 hour layover. I do not have any idea when or where the blade was clipped.
With all the searches and 24 hours in Miami, it is hard to tell. Its enough to enough to piss of the pope!
:mad: :mad:
 
Yea,

Start that route tomorrow. Bad thing is that it ent through two incountry airlines and Brazilian customs without any adult supervision. I`ve never had a problem before, but as soon as I was informed that the bag would catch up in a day or two, I got that sinking pit in my stomach.

I can only hope that whom ever ripped me off does not realize its a scale release and manages to remove some dangling part of his body.:D
 
Bad thing is that it ent through two incountry airlines and Brazilian customs without any adult supervision.
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I'll bet you a new DA LCC that it didn't get taken by TSA.
 
How would one prove that it was in the luggage in the first place? I'm sure very people are going to declare these items before checking in the luggage. Is there any insurance that would cover this sort of loss?

.45acp, I feel for you. I'm reluctant to travel via air because of this reason now. I usually check in several fixed blades of considerable value when I travel. Sucks big time.
 
Next time I fly, I thought I might try a little experiment with one of my custom folders in my checked luggage:

1. Tighten the blade so it can't open by itself and then wrap it with a length of vinyl electrical tape for good measure.
2. Use a plastic cable tie to make a loop through the lanyard hole.
3. Make a short "chain" with more cable ties and attach it with another loop somewhere to the frame of my suitcase.
4. Take a photograph of the knife "chained" to the inside of my suitcase before I leave for the airport.

Drastic measures? Maybe. But the ONLY way to remove that knife from my suitcase is to CUT those cable ties. And if it is "missing" at the end of the trip, I have photographic proof that it was there at the start of the trip.

What do you think?
 
Not a bad idea for slowing down the person with the sticky fingers but who's to say you didn't take the photo, cut the cables yourself, check in the luggage and try to claim something that wasn't really stolen?

It doesn't actually prove that it was there when you checked in the luggage. It just proved it was once there, chained inside.
 
Sorry to hear what happened. That really sucks.

Holger, I agree with Rumble; it is a good idea as far as securing your knife and making it harder to steal, but I doubt it could be used as proof that the knife was stolen.
 
Short of having your baggage notarized, there is no way to prove it. Fortunately, airlines are very sensitive about this issue, so the standard of proof is very low. The idea of taking pictures as you pack is a very good one. Digital is great since you can take the pictures and then just take the camera with the pictures along with you. That way, you can show them on the camera's LCD display to an agent at your destination. My guess is that he'll be very impressed. And if you arrive safely, then just delete those pictures. They cost you nothing.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
I'll bet you a new DA LCC that it didn't get taken by TSA.
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Gollnick, no bets, as I stated, I do not have any idea where, how, whom. TAM walked the bag through customs and said that it was never opened. Of course after it arrived, it was then transported to the hotel by TAM.
The new rulings that prohibit locking of baggage is the culprit. When the bags were locked I never had a problem.

Regardless, I shall contact AA this day to start the process.
 
I'd bet it was stolen in Brazil. With the new mandate to leave bags unlocked, and the obvious threat, TSA has taken some extra measures to assure that bags are not tampered with.

Or...the TSA agent inspecting your bag found an opportunity to take your knife but not enough time to take all of them.

I travel all the time and can't be without a knife. I check them in my baggage all the time and haven't lost one....yet.

My route is pretty safe, nonstop major to major. I tried the idea of carrying a "beater" at my destination. Something I wouldn't miss much if stolen but after using higher quality knives all the time I can't live with a beater.

I'm afraid that you won't get much sympathy or joy from the airline. You'd have been beter off if they lost your bag entirely.
 
Go to your nearest American Air and fill out a claim. Unfortunately, it could have been stolen at any of your connecting flight airports. American was original carrier and has never to my knowledge denied a claim because of other airline connecting flights. I should know, being an ex- airline employee and also worked for American. They busted a theft ring in Chicago (ORD) a few years ago, but I beleive LAX and many others had and have the same problem. While working for American I picked up my brother who flew in here from Calif. When we opened his properly checked and airline approved hard gun case, a .22 target Hi Standard and attatched Aimpoint was missing. It had been placed in between two long guns in the case. I called my boss and we returned to my workplace and filled out the insurance papers. My brother was quickly paid for his loss. Shortly thereafter, my brother was notified by Chicago police that his pistol had been recovered during an aborted robbery of a drugstore. My brother contacted American and informed them of the recovery and in fact Chicago returned his pistol to him. American told him to keep the money because of his inconvience. Back then when I worked for airlines, bags were insured for $1,500 each, a little known fact.
 
bags were insured for $1,500 each, a little known fact.
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On domestic, that's true. But Mr. .45acp's travel was international. His baggage is insured for something like $9.25 per pound to a limit that's just shy of $650 per passenger. In this case, the missing knife tips the scales at maybe four to six ounces. The Airline's liability is limited to about two dollars.

On international flights, the final airline on your itinerary is responsible for baggage issues.

I learned both of these facts a couple of years ago when British Airlines lost one of my bags. When I finally was able to get computer records checked, the records show that it was scanned into BA's Heathrow baggage center, but never scanned onto an outgoing flight.

I knew even before that, however, that BA had lost it. I checked it with BA in London. International passengers arriving in Seattle have to claim their baggage and then hand-carry their baggage through Customs and re-check it with their connecting domestic airlines. When I arrived in Seattle, one of my bags was waiting for me. The other was not. In fact, BA knew it was lost at that point because I was paged by name and then issued a letter stating that my other bag was delayed (I needed that letter to get through customs since my ticket paperwork showed that I had two checked bags and customs would be looking for both.) Even so, BA initially insisted that I had to handle the claim through Horizon Airlines. Horizon is the little regional carrier that flew me between Portland and Seattle. Horizon does not have the ability to search for a bag lost in BA's Heathrow facilities. After I raised a huge stink, BA finally did agree to take over the case and did eventually issue me a check for something like $650. Among the contents of that bag was a W.D. Pease folder worth about $1500. But BA stood by the international rules: $650 maximum per passenger.

By the way, if an international flight crashes and you're killed, the airline will pay your family something like $2000. "Sorry about killing your husband, Madam. Here's $2000 for your troubles."
 
Actually, my intention IS just to make it a bit tougher to steal for the sticky-finger crowd. I don't for a moment believe that my knife will be there when I unpack if someone REALLY wants it. (I've seen photos of a car "chop-shop" with a small mountain of "The Club" units piled in one corner.)
 
Originally posted by .45acp
....the new rulings that prohibit locking of baggage is the culprit....
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I haven't flown since this ruling was added to the other BS we have to put up with at airports.

My son told me that not only do you now have to leave your "checked" baggage unlocked - but you are also NOT allowed to be present when they search it? Is that true? :mad: :( :mad:
 
I heard that it is posible to volunteer your bags for inspection. 'After inspection they will place a seal on your bags and you will be allowed to lock them. Is this true?
 
... now there is a cost to pay for homeland security. The only knives I am willing to take with me are trainers or cheap folders. If they steal them, no biggie. The knife is cheap enough to lose or pretty well useless to them, anyways, if it is a trainer. The likelihood of them stealing a trainer is low and stealing of the pocket knife is slim. I think bagage can be zip tied and the inspectors have the OPTION of opening them up if they detect something suspicious with their equipment. Unfortunately, if you have some expensive knives to take with you, it is better to have them checked in. If I really need a knife, I will either send it there ahead of me or I purchase a cheapie if I am at the location. No expensive knife is worrying over while travellng. I am surprised that people that want to ship such items, there is not an airport service to accomodate them. Terrorists don't hijack or blow up cargo or freight planes... unless they are full of munitions or weapons, of course. *LOL* They usually go for passenger planes because lives are being threatened and TERRORIZED. For what it's worth...
 
... but who's to say you didn't take the photo, cut the cables yourself, check in the luggage and try to claim something that wasn't really stolen?

It doesn't actually prove that it was there when you checked in the luggage. It just proved it was once there, chained inside.
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That would never come to trial, but if it did, in a civil suit the plaintiff doesn't have to prove anything beyond reasonable doubt. He only has to show "a preponderance of evidence." In other words, the judge decides whether it is more likely that the passenger faked up a picture to make a false claim, or that the knife was stolen. That's not a difficult decision, which is why it would never come to trial.
 
I used to fly all over the sates doing computer and network installs and always had a knife with me. It was used as a tool and I just felt more secure walking at night in a strange place.

Since 9-11 I have not set foot on a plane. I drive everywhere if I have to go at all anymore. I understand they felt they had to make rules to make the sheeple feel more secure, but depriving me of my possessions to make someone else feel safe just don't jive. Now I make my travel arrangements elsewhere, and from the way the airlines are loosing money, I think alot of people are doing the same. Now I get where I am going on my terms, cary what I want and the only person I have to listen to is the wife,: "Are you sure that you need that!":D

Cerberus
 
I haven't flown since this ruling was added to the other BS we have to put up with at airports.
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Then you have not flown in about the last fifteen or twenty years.

Your checked baggage has been subject to inspection for quite some time. Airports have been inspecting and even opening and searching a fraction of domestic checked luggage for many years.

And that's only reasonable.

I don't know you. But in a few moments, we'll be boarding the same airplane. The contents of your luggage could very easily endanger me. So, I want your baggage inspected. And my guess is that you want mine inspected too. And it's not just bombs or weapons that criminals and terrorists might pack that we're looking for, but also other potentially hazardous things that ordinary stupid people might pack, fireworks, road flares, propane stoves, that sort of thing.

What's new is this 100% mandate for domestic luggage. In the past, we've only inspected a fraction of domestic luggage. Now we're trying to do 100%.

Luggage locks are not and have never been designed for security. There are just two or three keys that will open just about every Sampsonite suitcase ever made. And the other manufacturers are similar. The purpose of the lock on your luggage is to keep the latches from coming open in handling. That's all they have ever been for.

You can't loose what you did not have to begin with. Something can not be taken from you if you don't have it in the first place. You have not had an expectation of security of checked baggage for decades. Therefore, you have not recently lost any expectation of security in checked baggage. So, I don't understand what all the complaining is all about.

Airlines are public transportation in which the actions and the posessions of one person can affect everyone else. If you don't want to have your luggage be subject to search, then you don't qualify to participate in a public accomodation. You need to travel in private transportation where your actions and baggage only affect yourself.






My son told me... you are also NOT allowed to be present when they search it? Is that true?
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No, it is not true. You may request to be present for the inspection of your baggage. Plan to arrive at the airport extra early to allow time for this. How much inconvenience will be involved depends on your airport. At Portland International, it's actually quite simple. The facilities where the bags are inspected are right across the hall from the airline ticket counters. You just walk your bag over and they'll hand inspect it for you right there. You might want to call the airline ahead and ask what procedure you should follow and what additional delay you might expect at the airport you'll be flying out of.




BTW, when I got home from my last flight and opened my bag, there was a note informing me that my bag had been opened and inspected by TSA. None of the three knives in the bag were missing. My dress watch (which probably shouldn't have been in my checked bag in retrospect) was there. My dress belt with its $500 custom-made silver buckle, was right where I left it. Silver cufflinks and tie bar in their little box right where they belong. Nothing was missing.
 
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