What a pocket knife could do on a plane
By Lisa Desjardins, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @LisaDCNN
Editor's Note: Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
Capitol Hill (CNN) – The TSA is standing by its decision to allow small knives on planes.
Flight attendants and some powerful allies, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, are digging in on their position against the change.
But few are talking about the specifics and what the small knives could or could not do on a plane.
Could one of these pocket knives be used to cut someone’s throat?
[2:00] “Probably not because you’d have to hit it so perfectly in order to do it, it’s going to be tough. What they’re allowing is just over two inches, it’s so small. And no one is going to stand there and let it happen” says Dan Delava, owner of Plaza Cutlery, one of the largest knife stores on the West Coast.
Listen to our story for more on the passionate debate over knives, including how the TSA change is affecting the knife business. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. And listen to CNN Soundwaves on our SoundCloud page.
On Twitter
http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/03/small-pocket-knives-more-support-than.html
http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/03/tsa-prohibited-items-list-changing_5.html
Thanks,
Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
blog.tsa.gov
The weapons used on 9/11 only had about 1" blades.
you can kill quick wit a pencil why do i need knife? I wonder what is this discussion really about?
OK ill grab a knife, you grab a pencil, lets go.
I'd much rather have the pencil. It can stun you for an instant, which in a real fight is about all you'd get out of the knife too, the extra cut might hurt more later, but won't help you win the fight. Also the pencil doesn't need a hilt to keep it from slashing my hand much more than it slashes you, and it won't fold up on me. A pocket knife is the last thing I'd reach for in a fight. You're better off with the food tray. With the knife you'll be focussed as much on not hurting yourself as controlling the other person.. and the knife won't control the other person anyway, only p!ss them off.
Today if a bunch of Islamic murderers tried to take over a plane, the passengers would filet them before they got very far.
I don't believe this garbage. Contacting a person that sells knives and asking him/her is ludicrous. They are not going to tell you that their knives are deadly, if they do they might as well close up shop. Come on people, you can use your own brain and figure this out. Your jugular vain isn't more than 2 inches below the skin nor is it protected by body armor, or bone. The reason this idiot gives for them being safe can be the same reason a box knife would be considered safe and yet it is band along with lock blades. I can only hope and pray nothing happens because of this new ruling. If it does I hope the victim sues the hell out of our TSA and the Airline for allowing them on their planes. I will not fly ever again.
It's ok. You sit in movie theaters, concerts, meetings, other mass transit all the time, and no one's checking your neighbors for knives. The TSA is doing the correct thing.
Ever try to fly a movie theater into a building Jethro?
If you are counting on the TSA to keep you safe on your flight, you might as well stop flying now.
You need a knife very simply for 1 reason.The next time say there are a hundred passengers on a plane,and a guy tries a hijacking with a knife.He will have likely at least 99 stab wounds in him,probably killing him
And if this hijacker has your son/daughter with a knife to his/her throat what are you going to do? Are you going to believe this idiot knife salesman that these knives are to small to slice someone's jugular vain but as we have seen a box knife with even a shorter blade can? Do we all need morons telling us what is safe and what is not?
My cell phone has a metalic battery cover, about 3 inches long, easy to sharpen and it won't fold up on me or need a hilt. I can come up with a hundred more, many are better. People who want to cause harm don't care if knives are banned. You can stranlge someone with strong stockings, and frankly in a fight I'd rather have the stockings than a swiss army knife.
I would let you carry any kind of knife you want
if you can tell me why you need one on a plane.
you've had the food you dont need a knive for that.
so why would you need one?
Ask Crocodile Dundee what consititutes a knife.
9/11 hijackers used box cutters which are smaller than the pocket knives allowed.
Yes boxcutters were used in 9/11 because the standard procedure during a hostile takeover of a plan was to cooperate with all hijackers. I somehow don't see people making that mistake again.
Can you guarantee someone won't get their throat slit before he/she is stopped?
Says The government. In 11 years the government has put forth zero evidence to suport their story.
And box cutters and all locking blade knives are still banned. You are more likely to cut off your own finger than seriously hurt someone else with a small folding blade. I could do more damage to you with a Bic pen.
OK I will take my 2 inch razor sharp knife and you can grab your pen and lets see who wins?
I don't fly, so maybe my opinion is invalid..but, I am an avid hunter/fisherman. I get a kick out of these other hunters that carry the big "Rambo" looking knives. I have been carrying a Swiss Army Knife for over 40 years, the Tinker (small/medium one) I keep it filthy sharp, and have cleaned Elk, Deer, Bear, Small Game and many fish with it. I prefer the smaller blade, it is just over one inch long. With it, my index finger pretty much becomes a scalpel. Also, without intending to, the knife is completely concealed when using it this way. Someone with ill intentions, using a knife this way, could sever a femoral, or a carotid so quickly that it would be a done deal before the victim even knew there was trouble.
The point the TSA is making, is even if that were to happen, the rest of the plain would go bonkers. You could not use said knife to down the plain. Wether you agree with the TSA or not about the safty of a 2 inch knife, there is no debate, that you could not down a plain with said knife.
You there. Take the banana. Now, come at me with the banana . . .
A knife is a knife whether the blade is 2 inches of 6 inches. Someone who wants to can do damage and take hostages with a small knife just as easily as with a large. Picture a child snatched off a mother's lap of someone surprised as they leave a bathroom. It is possible should someone desire it. That being said, you could do the same with a sharpened pencil or an number of other everyday items thought of as "harmless". In addition to banning the "obvious" weapons, plane personel need to be trained. Not only in terms of talking to people to calm them down or to spot possible "problem people", but also in self defence and in offensive fighting techiques for when the stuff hits the fan. Armed, undercover agents should also be re-added to flights.
Evidently this knife store "owner" is nothing but. If a guy is trained to use a knife then he or she could inflict some very serious damage. Even kill somebody and yes, there are those that still will not stand up for themselves or others. TSA messed up, give it time.
Last time I measured a box cutter blade, it was less than two inches.
well, heck. I saw jason bourne beat the snot out of a guy with a magazine. maybe we should ban those on airplanes ?
A pocket knife is still a knife.