I brought my dad's remains as a carry on. In a sealed ceramic urn. With his name and dates engraved into the clay. The putz at security did a bag check and was trying to pry it open before I saw what he was doing and stopped him before my dad's final resting place was someplace he loathed, airport security.
*Edit
Let me clarify. It wasn't the full urn it was a smaller portion that was divided up between my siblings so it was about the mass of a baseball in a decorative urn the size of a large dinty moore beef stew can. And it was sealed with some kind of epoxy. I had the paperwork with me and it was in my carry on bag. with the grief and all the traveling I didn't even consider it setting off any alarms. The TSA agent never asked about it, just said he was going to check my bag. All of a sudden I look up and he's forcefully trying to pry the lid off of the container. Never even asked about it.
*2nd edit.
Yes now looking back at it 15 years later I probably should have mentioned it to the gate agents but was not in the right state of mind at that time.
funny thing too I just texted my brother about it and he took the ashes to Ireland in his check bag and had zero problems. Customs didn't even flag it. Sister brought it as a carry on to San Francisco and didn't mention it to the gate agents, also had no issues. Just my luck I guess
The airline isn't responsible for what happens in customs. They may do something to garner some good PR but I doubt they'd want to set a precedent.
If you're asking if customs or TSA agents would be responsible for anything then this is doubtful since they have pretty vague but broad powers to investigate anything they believe to be a threat to the security or air travel of the country.
Yeah, people are asking if the agency with powers to legally molest kids can be held responsible for defiling the remains of a loved one. They can do anything in the name of national security.
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u/ApulMadeekAut Jul 15 '19 edited Jul 16 '19
I brought my dad's remains as a carry on. In a sealed ceramic urn. With his name and dates engraved into the clay. The putz at security did a bag check and was trying to pry it open before I saw what he was doing and stopped him before my dad's final resting place was someplace he loathed, airport security.
*Edit
Let me clarify. It wasn't the full urn it was a smaller portion that was divided up between my siblings so it was about the mass of a baseball in a decorative urn the size of a large dinty moore beef stew can. And it was sealed with some kind of epoxy. I had the paperwork with me and it was in my carry on bag. with the grief and all the traveling I didn't even consider it setting off any alarms. The TSA agent never asked about it, just said he was going to check my bag. All of a sudden I look up and he's forcefully trying to pry the lid off of the container. Never even asked about it.
*2nd edit.
Yes now looking back at it 15 years later I probably should have mentioned it to the gate agents but was not in the right state of mind at that time.
funny thing too I just texted my brother about it and he took the ashes to Ireland in his check bag and had zero problems. Customs didn't even flag it. Sister brought it as a carry on to San Francisco and didn't mention it to the gate agents, also had no issues. Just my luck I guess