A man carrying his grandfather’s ashes home from Florida’s Orlando
airport is furious after a confrontation with a Transportation Security
Administration ended with the deceased man’s ashes spilled on the
airport floor.
John Gross was leaving Florida with the remains of his grandfather in a tightly sealed jar marked “Human Remains, ”
ABC Indianapolis affiliate RTV6 reported.
“They opened up my bag, and I told them,
‘Please, be careful. These are my grandpa’s ashes,’” Gross told the
station. “She picked up the jar. She opened it up.”
Gross said the TSA agent used her finger to sift through the ashes
and accidentally spilled it. He said one-third to one-half of the ashes
spilled and that the agent laughed as he tried to gather what he could
from the floor.
“She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and
knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that
was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.”
With regard to the transportation of human remains, the TSA web site reads,
“Passengers are allowed to carry a crematory container as part of their
carry-on luggage, but the container must pass through the X-ray
machine.
Out of respect to the deceased and their family and friends, under no
circumstances will an officer open the container even if the passenger
requests this be done. Documentation from the funeral home is not
sufficient to carry a crematory container through security and onto a
plane without screening.”
The web site also states it may be possible to transport the remains as checked baggage, depending on the air carrier.
“I want an apology,” said Gross. “I want an apology from TSA. I want
an apology from the lady who opened the jar and laughed at me. I want
them to help me understand where they get off treating people like
this.”
TSA did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Source
No comments:
Post a Comment