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."