Posted on Fri, Aug. 11, 2006

email this

print this

reprint or license this

Local travelers unruffled by heightened security

By Lisa Fleisher

The Sun News

RANDALL HILL/The Sun News

Signs were posted Thursday at Myrtle Beach International Airport stating the enhanced security measures and the increase to the orange security level.

Many of the passengers coming through Myrtle Beach International Airport were traveling just a little bit lighter Thursday after ditching items such as toothpaste and hair gel, banned from carry-on luggage under the heightened nationwide terror alert.

Airport officials greeting departing passengers at the curb rattled off a list of prohibited items: toothpaste, hair gel, lipstick, makeup, hand lotion, drinks, shaving cream, contact lens solution and so on.

"There are going to be a lot of stinky people around," said Deb Carpenter with a laugh.

Carpenter, 46, flew into Myrtle Beach from Minneapolis for a convention and tossed a $30 tube of makeup because she did not have time to repack before her flight.

London officials arrested 24 people Thursday in connection with what they called a major terror plot that involved making bombs in mid-air from chemicals disguised as household items, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.

Local tourism officials said they did not expect a dip in business.

"People may feel just a little more safer today because security is heightened," said Mickey McCamish, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, who booked a flight for his son Thursday. "For a lot of people, plans have already been made. I don't think this would curtail someone from making a trip."

At the airport, small signs taped to check-in desks alerted passengers to the new rules. A cardboard box sat next to one desk with a dozen small tubes of toothpaste, shaving cream and hand sanitizer.

By noon, many passengers had heard of the restrictions and said they had packed accordingly. Those on early morning flights were not so lucky.

Arriving passengers spoke of scenes at airports around the nation in which travelers plopped down in the middle of the floor to repack luggage, while some dumped items into large bins trotted out for the occasion.

"People were just throwing everything away," said Sharon Skodack, who was headed to Charleston for her son's wedding.

Skodack opened her checked luggage and was relieved that the lotions and hair products she'd salvaged had not exploded all over her clothing.

The arrivals and departures boards listed most flights as "on time," and airport director Bob Kemp said things were running "fairly smoothly."

There were no long lines in Myrtle Beach, but some passengers said they experienced delays at bigger airports.

Kari Fritsch, who came to Myrtle Beach with her 7-year-old daughter Rylee to visit friends, said it took an extra 45 minutes to get through security in Detroit.

"It was just really busy," she said. "People were unpacking and repacking."

Others said airports were relatively calm.

"I thought the security checkpoints were actually refreshing," said Zack Hall, 30, of Frankfort, Ky., who came to play golf. "At least they have the capability of doing that, ramping it up at a moment's notice."

Others said this was the latest in a string of inconveniences and headaches they have had to cope with since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"For me, flying is frustrating," said Ben Corbett, an entertainer, who travels regularly to perform. "These last few years have made me want to retire."