The Knife

I am not a knife person and I never carry knives anywhere. I travel frequently and never carry liquids or wear metal belts or have anything on me which might cause problems with security at airports. But I was recently caught with a knife in my hand luggage at one of the busiest and most security conscious airports in the world, Heathrow in London.

Two hours earlier we had gone through security at Edinburgh airport with not a problem so I wasn’t worried at all when my bag was taken to one side and I was asked to follow it. At the same time my girlfriend was also taken to one side. It didn’t look too good though. Her mistake was a tube of toothpaste and an asthma inhaler.

My rucksack was thoroughly searched and the first thing brought out from the top pocket was a knife!! There was nothing else. Aaargh!! I think my heart missed a beat or two. My brother in Scotland had given it to me to take to my other brother, Graeme, in Vienna. As I am not a knife man, I had thrown it into my luggage a few days before flying and had forgotten all about it.

But so what!? I assumed they would just take it from me as they do all ‘sharps’ caught by security at most airports. I didn’t think it would be an issue. But how naïve of me! My passport and boarding pass were taken and I was told either a member of Customs would come to me or the Police. Why the police I wondered? I am not a criminal!! Just keep the knife and I can go on my way.

Graeme, my brother in Vienna, had played his bagpipes at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August and this knife was part of his gear. It was not a Sgian Dubh however, which is the dress knife we Scots wear in our socks when dressed in our kilts. In fact I wasn’t really sure what it was used for but my story seemed to hold with the head of security. It was explained to me that if it was a stabbing knife or a knife with a lock I would have been in court the next morning. Suddenly I felt I could be in a wee bit of bother.

I texted Graeme and he texted back to say it was a sentimental knife. I texted back that facing court was more of a problem than sentimentality. He came back to me saying that it could be posted as can happen at a few other airports. Let’s wait and see I said.

And so I waited and waited. My onward flight to Vienna was fortunately delayed so I wasn’t too stressed with the possibility of missing my flight. Meanwhile Melinda checked in for her flight back to Melbourne. I wasn’t really worried about any consequences. I might miss my flight, I may have to pay another fare or I might go to court all of which I could deal with. But I was annoyed and angry with myself for forgetting about the knife and for losing something that was important to someone else.

And then 3 coppers turned up. I couldn’t believe it needed three of them to deal with this situation. I still wasn’t that worried as I explained to them why I had the knife. I was in luck!! The copper in charge was Scottish and I gave him my Tattoo story and he was impressed. Like me he was surprised that they were called out when Security could have dealt with it themselves. Could he post it to Vienna for me? Or could a friend pick it up in a couple of days and collect it? Or could Melinda’s London living sister pick it up? He thought about it but it wasn’t worth his job so he was keeping it and I was on my way.

So make sure you double check what is in your cabin luggage before going through security at any airport. As I travel a lot, I am more than happy to spend longer clearing security for a safer flight as we are only as safe as the security personal at every airport. But I did feel that someone up north in Edinburgh was going to be in terrible trouble for letting me board a flight with this dangerous payload! Most of us are honest citizens but Security doesn’t know who is and who isn’t. It is worth a quick scan of your hand luggage before going to the airport.

Happy flying!!