28 June,2011 07:17 AM IST | | Agencies
95-year-old woman was asked to undergo 45-minute intrusive search during which US airport officials asked to remove her adult diaper
The family of an elderly woman in the late stages of leaukemia said they were outraged after she was forced to remove her adult nappy during additional screening at a US airport.
TSA officials stopped 95-year-old Reppertu00a0and took her to a private room where they asked her to remove her clothes for an intrusive search.
The Transportation Security Association (TSA) is standing their agents' actions, saying they were only following strict protocols for air travellers.
Lena Reppert (95), was to say her final goodbyes to her daughter, Jean Weber, before she made what would most likely be her last flight. After eight years of battling leaukemia, doctors said she doesn't have much time to live.
But when Reppert made it to the check-in line, TSA agents singled her out because she was in a wheelchair, it has been claimed.
Wheelchairs require other security measures to be employed since they don't go through metal detectors.
"They brought my mum to the side, and two agents started patting her," Weber said.
u00a0
"Eventually they found something that appeared to be hard and they said could be a concealed weapon."
She said two female agents wheeled her mother into a private room where they performed a more thorough inspection, and found that Reppert was wearing an adult nappy.
After 45 minutes, the mother and daughter were given two options: either don't fly, or lose the nappy. The women chose the latter and Reppert just made her flight.
"I ran with her to the bathroom and stripped her down," Weber said. "I got back to the line and just started bawling."
The TSA said at "no instance" would an officer ask a passenger to remove an adult nappy.
The TSA would not disclose further information about the particular passenger, but said all protocols were followed.
"It's something I couldn't imagine happening on American soil," Weber said.
She added, "Here is my mother, 95-years-old, barely able to stand, and then this. She was trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan in an attempt to be with relatives as she battles the disease."
The Other Side
"While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the agency said in a statement. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure."
In the past
The TSA, on June 20, defended their actions, as they did in April when they patted down a 6-year-old, and in May when a video surfaced of them giving a patdown to a baby.
