http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...o=feeds-newsxml

Parents' fury as TSA 'detains' their wheelchair-bound daughter, 3, as they're trying to fly to Disney World for family vacation

*Forck family was flying from Missouri to Orlando, Florida for vacation
*Three-year-old daughter, Lucy, was detained for further testing ahead of family's February 8 flight
*Lucy suffers from spinal bifida and is in a wheelchair

By BETH STEBNER

PUBLISHED: 11:51 EST, 20 February 2013 | UPDATED: 11:54 EST, 20 February 2013



The parents of a toddler with spinal bifida are outraged after TSA officials forced their daughter to undergo a series of additional security measures ahead of their flight to Disney World.

Nathan and Annie Forck were flying out of their home state of Missouri on a February 8 flight bound for Orlando, Florida with their wheelchair-bound daughter Lucy and their two other children.

Mrs Forck took a six-minute video detailing their toddler’s cries as she said through tears that she didn’t want to go to Disney World anymore, and is claiming the TSA discriminates against people who use mobility devices.




Trail of tears: Lucy, pictured bottom, was in tears after a TSA agent subjected the three-year-old girl to a full patdown; she has spinal bifida and is in a wheelchair



Upset: Throughout the patdown, the little girl was weeping and saying: 'i don't want to go to Disney World.' The family was flying to Orlando from their home in Missouri

As Fox News Radio reports, the Forcks were attempting to fly to Orlando to enjoy a family vacation at Disney World and were flying out of Lambert-St Louis International Airport.

Though they got through the TSA security checkpoint without incident, a TSA agent pulled the family aside to screen Lucy’s wheelchair further for a pat down and swabbing her mobility device.

Mrs Forck pulled out her smart phone and began recording the whole event, against the TSA agent’s request.

‘It’s illegal to do that,’ the female agent is heard saying.


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Mrs Forcks responds: ‘You can’t touch my daughter unless I can record it,’ and later adds: ‘The problem is, I don’t allow anyone to touch my little daughter.’

Throughout the argument between the mother and the TSA agent, Lucy can be heard crying, apparently confused at what exactly was going on.

Her stuffed animal, ‘Lamby,’ had been scanned via X-ray and had not been returned to her.

Mr Forck, an attorney, told Fox News that he knew it was legal to record the event and said that if the same instance had occurred outside the setting of an airport, it would be illegal.


Know your rights: Mother Annie Forck filmed the entire patdown and said she had the right to film it, despite the TSA agent's protest

‘But you put a TSA badge on and now all of a sudden, it’s okay,’ he told the station. The father added that he and his wife were not trying to make a scene, but instead were looking out for the wellbeing of their daughter.

The TSA did not immediately respond to MailOnline’s request for comment.



According to the TSA website, ‘passengers who can neither stand nor walk will be screened by a thorough patdown while they remain seated.’

The site adds: ‘A patdown procedure is used to resolve any alarms of a metal detector or anomalies identified by imaging technology.’


Checkpoint: The TSA states on its website that those in wheelchairs and scooters who cannot walk must go through a comprehensive patdown

The government agency offers a notification card for those with medical issues, but it is clearly stated on the card that presenting it to agents doesn’t exempt passengers from screening.

Mr Forck told Fox News that Lucy had no problem coming through Orlando’s TSA checkpoint.

The Transportation Security Administration was formed in early 2002 following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

I've always maintained that the TSA is nothing more than a Bush administration jobs program for the chronically unemployed. This article serves the point.

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Quote: Ford289HiPo wrote in post #1

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Mrs Forck pulled out her smart phone and began recording the whole event, against the TSA agent’s request.

‘It’s illegal to do that,’ the female agent is heard saying.

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Quote: Ford289HiPo wrote in post #2

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I've always maintained that the TSA is nothing more than a Bush administration jobs program for the chronically unemployed. This article serves the point.

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To put a stop to this stop flying, it is an idiot organization, you can walk a nuclear bomb across the southern border, just make sure the ones carrying it are under 34.
And you can bring one in by ship from cuba, no problem.

Dr. David Mandy: Special Needs Son Harassed by TSA at Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Published : Wednesday, 08 Jun 2011, 11:10 PM EDT
By TARYN ASHER
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com
ROMULUS, Mich. (WJBK) –
The Mandy family says they were on their way to the happiest place on earth (Disney), but had to go through hell to get there.
“I realize they’re trying to keep people safe, but come on, does he look like a terrorist?” said Dr. David Mandy.
The family was going through security when two TSA agents singled Drew Mandy out for a special pat down. Drew is severely mentally disabled. He’s 29, but his parents said he has the mental capacity of a two-year-old, which made the experience that followed at metro Detroit’s McNamera Terminal that much harder to deal with.
“You have got to be kidding me. I honestly felt that those two agents did not know what they were doing,” Mandy told us.
Dr. Mandy claimed they asked Drew to place his feet on the yellow shoe line, something he didn’t understand. They proceeded to pat his pants down, questioning the padding which was his adult diapers. When the agents asked Drew to take his hand and rub the front and back of his pants so they could swab it for explosives, his dad stepped in and tried to explain that Drew was mentally challenged.
“They said, ‘Please, sir, we know what we’re doing,’” Mandy said.
The TSA agents saw Drew holding a six-inch plastic hammer.
“My son carries his ball and his hammer for security. He goes everywhere with (them),” said Mandy.
The TSA it seems saw the toy as a weapon.
“He took the hammer and he tapped the wall. ‘See, it’s hard. It could be used as a weapon,’” Mandy explained. “So, Drew’s also holding the ball, and I said, ‘Well, how about the ball?’ He (said), ‘Oh, he can keep that.”
Dr. Mandy was told he would need to have the toy shipped if he wanted to keep it, a process which caused them to almost miss their plane, so he pitched it.
“It just killed me to have to throw it away because he’s been carrying this like for 20 years,” Mandy said.
Disgusted, he wrote TSA a letter. A response wasn’t far behind.
“Very polite. Very apologetic. He was embarrassed. He (said) we have to review how we deal with special needs individuals. Obviously, he (said), we’re doing a terrible job,” Mandy told us. “It made me feel that there is still hope, that there is still justice and that there’s still somebody who listens to people’s problems (in) the federal government.
That’s because federal security told him there are 800 TSA agents at Metro Airport and they are all going to be retrained based on Drew’s case.
We also spoke to a federal security director who said this incident is still under investigation, but as far as they can tell right now, better judgment was needed.
The TSA took away one toy hammer, but they were still able to take another toy hammer on board the airplane. How did that happen?
Drew’s mother, always prepared, had another one in her backpack and that already passed through security with no problem.

I can't imagine that poor family watching their little girl cry. She already has health issues and I'm sure they're more than protective as it is. Will have to watch the video when I get home but just seeing her little face in those pictures, ugh, I'd be so mad!!

I want to see the video, was TSA agent trying to be nice, encouraging? It's okay baby, we're not going to hurt you, we just want to see if your Lamby is in good health and give him an xray, and whatever else story a person could come up with to make it more fun for her.

Quote: ozarkian wrote in post #8

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I want to see the video, was TSA agent trying to be nice, encouraging? It's okay baby, we're not going to hurt you, we just want to see if your Lamby is in good health and give him an xray, and whatever else story a person could come up with to make it more fun for her.

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Just happened to watch the video while you were posting. They were polite but no customer service skills as you said. They could have been encouraging with the child but they ignored her, dealt only with mom, while little girl cried. Health professionals are great and that's probably what she's used to, someone who would get down on her level and explain things and I think that would have helped a great deal with the little girls fear. Mom was polite, TSA was polite, they just kept getting another TSA manager, then apparently another manager, then another till they decided not to pat down the child as they'd said previously and just were going to swab the wheelchair.

I haven't flown since the pat downs started. Mom, who is in her seventies has, and she deliberately wears rather tight clothing so they will have less reason to pat her down. She did get patted down one time and didn't appreciate it much. She commented that she's American born and bred and at her age they shouldn't worry about her carrying bombs and such but I guess she cooperated. She said they reached all around the inside waistband of her pants but aside from that it wasn't too bad.