Anybody who travels with any frequency knows the routine. You’re in the line to get searched by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). You take off your coat, your shoes and maybe your belt as well, put it all into tubs and shove it on through to the X-ray machine. And if you’re like most people, you get through with a minimum of hassle. You don’t mess with those TSA people, because they have a serious job to do, and you have a plane to catch. Most of us are aware of how serious the TSA’s job is, and even though we may not always like our interaction with them, Travel Channel’s new series Airport 24/7: Miami, premiering tonight at 9pm ET/PT, will give viewers a thorough appreciation of what these people endure — from monumental stupidity to uncovering serious intent to harm.
Set in Miami International Airport, Airport 24/7: Miami provides an intense look at everything that goes into keeping America’s airways safe and efficient. With 38 million passengers routed through it each year, MIA is regarded as a Category X airport — a prime target for possible terrorist actions. In the premiere episode of Airport 24/7: Miami, airport staff has to cope with turning around an enormous, 500-plus-passenger Lufthansa plane inside of 140 minutes. That includes disembarking, baggage transfer and delivery, security sweep, cleaning, refueling and boarding the next flight’s 500-plus passengers. It’s no easy task, and people are mercurial and moody by nature, especially when traveling.
Not surprisingly, you won’t believe the rudeness. But more than that, you won’t believe the collection of stuff that Lauren Stover — head of Security and Communications at MIA, and, with her large and witty personality, a likely breakout star of this series — and the TSA have recovered in going through people’s belongings over the years. From live rounds of ammunition and grenades to medieval weaponry, they see it all. And yes, they do deal with a pretty heavy scare in tonight’s premiere.
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Photo: Travel Channel
