TSA officers at Tampa International Airport found a 4-inch double-edged knife concealed inside a baseball bat-shaped flashlight in a passenger’s carry-on bag, according to an employee account published on the agency’s website. The passenger was arrested and barred from traveling.
TSA Officer Andrew Carter spotted the problem first, while screening the bag through an X-ray machine. Something about the flashlight didn’t look right, so he pulled the bag for a closer look.
“The makeup and composition of the flashlight appeared unusual and outside what I typically expect, so I determined it required further examination,” Carter said.
Supervisory TSA Officer Michael Slaughter then searched the bag by hand and felt a mass hidden beneath the lining. When he opened the lining, he found the flashlight — and noticed a seam running along its shaft.
“That is when it detached from the flashlight — revealing a 4-inch double-edged knife integrated into the handle,” Slaughter said.
When TSA questioned the passenger, he first said he had no idea the knife was in his bag. Once airport police showed up, his story changed — he told officers he had tucked it under the suitcase lining to save space, TSA said.
He was arrested on the spot and did not fly that day.
Not the first time TSA has seen this trick
Keith Jeffries, a Florida-based vice president at K2 Security Screening Group and a former federal security director for TSA at Los Angeles International Airport, told Fox News Digital that hiding blades inside everyday objects is a known problem at checkpoints. He pointed to walking canes as a common example, and noted some travelers genuinely don’t know a blade is built into something they bought.
What set the Tampa case apart, Jeffries said, is that the passenger admitted he deliberately hid the knife.
“Once you do that, that falls right into the category of artful concealment — which leads to certainly a grave concern,” Jeffries said.
TSA says passengers who bring knives to a checkpoint can sometimes voluntarily surrender the item and still make their flight, but whether law enforcement gets involved depends on the specifics of each case. Travelers can also face a civil penalty, and Jeffries said TSA PreCheck members risk losing that status altogether.
His bottom line for travelers: know what’s actually in your bag before you get to the airport.
“Pack your own bag, know what’s in your bag and do not try to test the system,” Jeffries said. “Do not test the security system. You will lose.”
Fox News Digital reached out to TSA for further comment.
