AIR TRAVELLERS ENCOURAGED TO ADHERE TO SECURITY AND SAFETY PROCEDURES

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 31, 2019 (SKNIS): Persons travelling via air are encouraged to always adhere to security and safety procedures to ensure hassle-free travel, said Royston Griffin, Senior Civil Aviation Officer within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aviation.

One such procedure is the 3-1-1 liquid rule which states that each passenger must carry liquids, gels and aerosols in travel-size containers that are 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters. Each passenger is limited to one quart-size bag of liquids, gels and aerosols. Common travel items that must comply with the 3-1-1 liquids rule include toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, lotion and perfume.

While appearing on “Working for You” on Wednesday, January 30, Mr. Griffin noted that the 3-1-1 rule is very important, and passengers should always abide by it.“It helps when you go to the airport and you don’t have the challenge of security telling you [they] have to confiscate this or that, so you store your stuff in the quart-size zip lock bag, make sure they are not over 3.4 ounces and also make sure that when you go to the airport and you see unattended bags you report it to security or someone from the air carrier,” he said.

He stated that the idea of aviation security is to say something when you see something, adding that persons need to rid themselves of saying it’s not their business.

“Aviation is everyone’s business. It is not just the security at the checkpoint; it is not just the air carrier, but every single citizen and every traveller. It is the business of all of us and in order for us to have a safe and secured environment, [we] must be involved to ensure that our state is safe and the travelling public as well,” said the senior civil aviation officer.

According to information from www.tsa.gov, the 3-1-1 liquids rule was implemented as a result of the August 10, 2006, incident when authorities in the United Kingdom arrested a group suspected of planning to blow up a large number of airplanes bound for the United States of America and Canada using a sports drink and other chemicals to make an explosive cocktail. In the aftermath, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) banned all liquids in carry-on baggage in flights leaving from or going to the United States. After rigorously testing liquids, the TSA implemented the 3-1-1 rule in September 2006.