When your bag shows you're packing

Airport. Photo / Yaroslav Astakhov

There was a realistic-looking replica of a suicide vest found in a checked bag at an airport in El Paso.

A block of inert explosives was discovered in a carry-on bag at an airport in Florida. Hand grenades were confiscated from luggage at airports all over the US.

These, with 3957 firearms, were among the items discovered by agents with the Transportation Security Administration at airport security checkpoints in 2017, reports Washington Post.

In its "TSA Year in Review" report, the agency said a "record-setting" number of firearms were found in carry-on bags. With nearly 4000 firearms for the year, that translates to about 10 firearms a day.

That's up by roughly 17 per cent from 2016, when 3391 firearms were found at checkpoints, the TSA said. And the number of firearms found has risen steadily since the TSA began tracking the number in 2005, when 660 firearms were found.

Two million travellers a day went through security check points last year and a total of 771.5 million passengers were screened.

The TSA said nearly 35 per cent of the firearms found had a round in the chamber. And "the most firearms discovered in one-month — a whopping 31 — were found in August at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.

Passengers also tried to board with numerous other hazardous items.

Another problem was many items appeared to be real but in fact weren't.

The TSA also said it found nearly 200 items that are prohibited and were "deliberately hidden in attempts to sneak them through security." In one case, a sword cane was found in a traveller's items at George Bush Airport in Houston. A knife was found hidden inside a stick of deodorant in a carry-on bag at the Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. And a knife was found in a tube of lipstick in a carry-on bag at Tulsa Airport.