And What's He Done To Enrage The TSA

It's a common name: David Nelson. Sort of like John Doe or Bob Smith. But whoever Dave Nelson is, he's caught some major-league attention from the TSA. So much so, that every Dave Nelson getting aboard a commercial flight anywhere in the country is likely to be pulled aside, questioned and thoroughly searched.

"When You Get Back On The Plane, People Look At You Funny"

"It was such a fiasco," David Nelson of Hollywood said recently of his most recent attempt at flying. The 35-year-old actor said he was headed to Hawaii on vacation. As required these days, he handed his driver's license to a ticket agent at LAX. The ticket agent pulled a face and muttered, "Oh, boy. Here's another David Nelson."

"She told me, 'There's some terrorist with that name or something. That name brings a red flag.'" A few months before his trip to Hawaii, Nelson was getting settled into his seat on a LA-New York flight when a voice called out over the intercom, "David Nelson, please exit the plane." Hoo boy.

Within minutes, Nelson was surrounded by FBI agents, his shoes removed and his carry-on luggage searched. Eventually, Nelson said, he was allowed to return to his seat on the New York flight. Still, "When you get back on the plane, people look at you funny."

When it started to happen again on his Hawaii flight, The Los Angeles Times reports, Nelson gave up. He walked out. He hasn't flown since.

The David Nelson Phenomenon

There are six David Nelsons in LA who say they've been hassled by the TSA when trying to make a flight. The Portland Oregonian says the same of 18 David Nelsons. The problem is nationwide - reaching even to Alaska, where four David Nelsons told The Juneau Empire they've had similar troubles.

"I've heard horror stories," said David M. Nelson, a Canoga Park (CA) teacher. "If your name is David Nelson, prepare to be detained."

The TSA's Story

What does the TSA say about all this? Spokesman Nico Melendez says the problem is related to the name-matching technology used by most airlines. Is the name "David Nelson" on some super-secret commercial aviation blacklist? Nope, said Melendez. The problem is in security scanning software that randomly flags "the presence of letters in a name."

Yeah, sure, says David Kennedy. He's the director of research at TrueSecure Corp., a Virginia-based company that specializes in intelligence security. "I'm more inclined to believe there is a bad David Nelson out there they're looking for," he told the LA Times.

Such seems to be the case. Several David Nelsons said they were told by airline officials the name was listed because a man named David Nelson once barged into an airplane cockpit. Federal officials will neither confirm nor deny.

But Melendez is adamant. He says, even though there is a list of suspect passengers - "the list of persons whom air carriers are required to 'select' for additional security screening prior to boarding," according to TSA documents, it doesn't contain the name "David Nelson." Rather, he says, someone can trigger a red-flag by purchasing a ticket with cash, or buying a one-way ticket.

So, How Do You Get Off The List?

That's the real problem. The list itself offers little more than a first name and a last name. That leaves David Nelsons everywhere with virtually no recourse, since screeners and ticket agents themselves don't really know what they're looking for.

But the TSA has created a toll-free telephone hotline for just such an emergency. By calling (866) 289-9673, the David Nelsons of the world can plead their cases to TSA operators. Callers often have to wait ten minutes or more and then have to fill out reams of paperwork sent by the operator through the mail.

Does it work? A lot of David Nelsons don't even bother to find out. "I haven't flown again. It's not worth it," said South Pasadena's David Nelson. He said he wants to go back to Wisconsin soon to visit family. "We're thinking about driving."

FMI: www.tsa.gov/public