TSA officer 'shocked' to search out cat in checked bag at JFK

Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) officers are identified to sometimes discover firearms and knives inside passengers’ baggage, however on Tuesday, officers stumbled upon one thing extra peculiar: an orange cat.

TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein stated an officer was “shocked” once they discovered the cat in a passenger’s checked bag throughout inspections at New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport.

Farbstein stated the traveler indicated the cat belonged to another person of their family.

“On the intense aspect, the cat’s out of the bag and safely again house,” she wrote on Twitter.

A separate tweet from the company reveals an X-ray screening of the cat within the passenger’s baggage, which seems to be a rolling suitcase, and an officer opening the bag with the cat inside.

The company is anticipating hundreds of thousands of Individuals to go by the nation’s airports over the Thanksgiving vacation.

We’re letting the cat out of the bag on a hiss-toric discover. This CATch had our bags screening officers @JFKairport saying, “Come on meow”! Feline like you could have journey questions attain out to our furiends @AskTSA. They’re out there day by day, from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. (ET). pic.twitter.com/LpIkLbAgzC

— TSA (@TSA) November 22, 2022

On Tuesday, 2.3 million individuals handed by airport safety checkpoints, TSA knowledge reveals.

The company final week prompt Thanksgiving journey volumes might attain pre-pandemic ranges, with upward of two.5 million passengers doubtlessly touring on each Wednesday and Sunday.

“We count on to be busier this 12 months than final 12 months right now, and possibly very near pre-pandemic ranges,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske stated in an announcement.

“We’re ready to deal with the projected improve in journey volumes subsequent week. Nevertheless, going ahead, making the TSA pay ranges equal to different federal companies is crucial to our capacity in 2023 to recruit, practice, equip and retain a extremely expert {and professional} workforce on the frontlines of transportation safety,” Pekoske added, calling on Congress to go the Biden administration’s funds request for the company.