USA
Wheelchair-bound woman in underwear gets
hour-long security search
A woman in a wheelchair arrived at an airport wearing only her
underwear to avoid an "enhanced" pat down, only to be subjected
to an hour-long security search after traces of nitrate were found
on her body.
Tammy Banovac, 52, said she decided to travel wearing only knickers and a bra after undergoing a search two weeks earlier.
Referring to the earlier search, she told The Oklahoman newspaper: "If it happened anywhere else, it would have been sexual assault."
When she turned up at Oklahoma City airport hoping to be processed quickly she was once again given an extra search, which caused her to miss her flight to Phoenix.
A video of the incident, showing the wheelchair-bound passenger in her black underwear and carrying her pet lapdog, was filmed by another passenger and posted on YouTube.
Officials said she was given the "enhanced" search this time because traces of nitrates, which can be used in explosives, were found on her body.
Nitrates are also found in medications and could also have come from a recent hunting trip she went on.
The Transportation Security Administration has faced a growing outcry over new security measures at US airports, with many travellers complaining they are invasive and humiliating.
In the latest case an Oklahoma City Airport spokesman said the TSA acted appropriately and "did everything they should have done."
