History Main / OverreactingAirportSecurity

* ''Film/WereTheMillers'': When the TSA officer is checking the "Millers'" [=IDs=], he doesn't see anything suspicious about David and Casey's driver licenses (David is unshaven and has a different haircut in the photo, while Casey has a dozen piercings in hers), although their pictures look ''very'' different from their current looks. Kenny looks exactly like his picture... and he gets strip-searched for that.

'''Greg:''' I was not threatening her. I was just trying to get my bag into the overhead storage bin-

-->'''Officer:''' You can't say bomb on an airplane!\\
'''Greg:''' Bomb bomb bomb! Bomb bomb ba-bomb!

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/{{Mardek}}'', where you have to go through 10 security guards every time you want to use a teleporter, all of whom ask you ridiculous questions. If you answer a question incorrectly, the guards will yell "TERRORIST!!1" and transform into a [[BonusBoss nigh-invincible "security demon"]].

** The airport security in the episode "The Entity". TheyKilledKennyAgain for carrying a nail clipper.

In the wake of 9/11, airport security in the United States has been ramped up significantly, and while random luggage checks, X-ray machines, and {{Metal Detector Checkpoint}}s have been routine for a while, some feel that it reached ridiculous levels when water bottles and nail clippers were banned from flights. Many feel security is too paranoid in the modern day, and as a result, tend to drive or take UsefulNotes/{{Amtrak}} instead.[[note]]Amtrak even started joking about this trope, putting up advertising in airports saying that it's okay for train passengers to wear mismatched socks, because they're not required to take their shoes off.[[/note]] This trope combined with the arrival of UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail has also spelled the end of "commute" flights on many corridors in Europe and Asia.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': Bojack finds Todd hidden in his suitcase and asks how he got there. Cut to a flashback where Todd gets trapped there and the TSA agent watching the x-ray machine ignores the bag containing Todd and a bag full of guns... but sets off the alarm for a small bottle of shampoo.

* On ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', Bojack finds Todd hidden in his suitcase. There's a flashback to airport security, where the TSA looks at the x-ray machine and lets Bojack's bag through along with a bag with several guns, but sets off the alarm for a bottle of shampoo.

->"''Many airports have signs telling us to avoid humorous remarks... For instance, never tell a ticket agent, 'As a matter of fact, I DID accept items from persons unknown to me! A nice man in a chadar gave me this awesome luggage freshener [[IncrediblyObviousBomb with a clock attached!]]' Federal regulations require them to have no idea you're joking as they riddle your body with bullets.''"

In the wake of 9/11, airport security in the United States has been ramped up significantly, and while random luggage checks, X-ray machines, and {{Metal Detector Checkpoint}}s have been routine for a while, some feel that it reached ridiculous levels when water bottles and nail clippers were banned from flights. Many feel security is too paranoid in the modern day, and as a result, tend to drive or take UsefulNotes/{{Amtrak}} instead. This trope combined with the arrival of UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail has also spelled the end of "commute" flights on many corridors in Europe and Asia.

* ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'' used this as the cap to an [[EscalatingWar Escalating Prank War]] between main character Rayne and his {{Jerkass}} brother Eric. After weeks worth of material of the two trying to outdo each other, when Eric is leaving Rayne tricks him into saying bomb in an airport. Eric immediately recognizes his mistake and congratulations Rayne on the cleverness of it as he's led away by security. [[http://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20050723 Link]].

* Inverted in ''Literature/BigTrouble'': two incompetent terrorists easily bring a ''nuclear bomb'' onto an airplane ([[BlatantLies they claim it's a garbage disposal]]). [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy The guard is too uninterested to bother stopping them.]] Ironically, this was part of the reason TheFilmOfTheBook [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents got a huge delay slapped on its shortly-after-9/11]] release date.

* Allegations about the physicalness of security procedures put into place by the Transportation Security Administration in November 2010 were parodied with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gspzb_k1FAE this]] Series/SaturdayNightLive sketch.

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://www.xkcd.com/651/ did one on this]]. The scene was of a guy and his wife being stopped by the TSA with the guy explaining to the officer that his laptop battery contained as much stored power as a hand grenade and if it went off, then there would be a pretty bad explosion. As the man is being arrested, he exclaims, "You can't arrest me if I prove your rules inconsistent!", which just goes to show he doesn't really understand how people ''work''.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[LargeHam Overacting Airport Security.]]

* In the Franchise/TheMuppets Christmas special ''[[Film/AMuppetsChristmasLettersToSanta Letters to Santa]]'', Fozzie is told by a security guard that telling bad jokes on an airport terminal is against security regulations. After Fozzie tells him that he has better jokes and takes them out to show him, the guard shouts "He's got index cards!" and poor Fozzie is tackled and taken away.

* In the Series/{{Muppets}} Christmas special ''[[Film/AMuppetsChristmasLettersToSanta Letters to Santa]]'', Fozzie is told by a security guard that telling bad jokes on an airport terminal is against security regulations. After Fozzie tells him that he has better jokes and takes them out to show him, the guard shouts "He's got index cards!" and poor Fozzie is tackled and taken away.

* Magic, but close enough. Creator/PennAndTeller sell metal cards inscribed with the Bill of Rights after their Las Vegas shows to help make a point; they think this is [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped one of those anvils that needs dropping]], at least.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The actual Travel and Safety Administration has taken advantage of this trope, and have recorded the various lengths some people have tried to take to bring something prohibited on-board their flight [[https://instagram.com/tsa?igshid=1wdbj0p0y4j6 to Instagram]].
[[/folder]]

-->'''Officer''': You can't say bomb on an airplane!\\
'''Greg''': Bomb bomb bomb! Bomb bomb ba-bomb!

* In ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay'', an old lady on the plane sees Kumar as a raving Arab potential terrorist; when he puts his bong together in the restroom, he gets caught and says, "it's just a bong," but she (and others) think he says "bomb". It doesn't help that the guy in charge of Homeland Security is a complete nut who [[IdenticalLookingAsians can't tell an Indian from an Arab]] and assumes that every person of Korean descent is a North Korean agent. Hell, he can't even figure out that Harold and Kumar's parents were born in the US and tries to talk to them through an interpreter (who wasn't even able to understand that the parents were speaking English despite their having a Midwestern American accent).