According to my on-screen guide this will be the topic of tonight's 60 Minutes. I will be tuning in as we have a friend who has this problem.

As are people with similar names to "terrorists".

Of course REAL terrorists aren't on the no-fly lists as the list isn't secure and the DHS don't want to tip the terrorist off.

Have a read of the security forums on Flyertalk

I have a friend who has a generic Hispanic name that causes him endless headaches when flying. As a result, he only flies AA because he has elite status and that eliminates the problem. Otherwise, he has to get to the airport two hours before a flight.

Innocent Americans on the no-fly list?

What else is new?

44,000 names on a list that had ~1000 names before 9/11.

Most are innocent Americans, and include but are not limited to doctors, lawyers, soldiers, government agents, retirees, children, housewives, presidents and politicians from friendly countries, etc...

It's ridiculous and I hope TSA disappears soon.... It's a total abuse of our constitutionaly guaranteed rights and a total waste of taxpayers money....

We're no safer than before, yet our own people are getting harassed by our own government for no reason whatsoever.

Write your congressperson and at the very least demand accountibility by the TSA idiots or at the very most a total disbanding of this bureaucratic nightmare that in no way makes our borders any safer.

It's a farce.

DH and I watched this show and it was a real eye opener. For those who missed it, there are some very common names on that list, such as Robert Johnson and John Williams. There are also names of dead people on the list, including 14 of the terrorists who died on 9/11. The FBI spokesperson acknowledged that even death will not get a person's name off the list because the identity can live on.

I didn't know this when I made the post above, but DH just told me our friend hired a lawyer to try and get his name off the list, or to find some way of avoiding hours of interrogation at the airport. Eventually he was told that nothing will change and he will always have this problem. In the end our friend decided to legally change his last name, which he has since done. It's a shame it came to this, but it did solve the problem. He recently made a trip overseas and he was not interrogated.

Here's a link to the 60 Minutes story if you would like more info:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...n2066624.shtml

Thanks fors the link - my husband is one of those on the list and somehow missed 60" last nite.

Hi gail, I remembered your DH when I watched this show. Does he still have problems when flying?

PM - thanks for remembering him. His problems are reduced but not always absent. He has not flown internationally recently, so we will see what happens then.

He who would sacrifice his liberty for security deserves neither.

> Otherwise, he has to get to
> the airport two hours before
> a flight.

Not to detract from the topic at hand, but isn't he supposed to do that anyway?

What they suggest and what is a practical reality are two different things, especially for 6 am flights.

Sadly, 60 minutes should only be viewed for entertainment. Their reports are beyond sensationalized and are merely fiction. It's an interesting topic. Anyone know where to get good information?

Go to the root of the problem - TSA website.

bdjtbenson:

Sadly you are mistaken in a big way. Do you actually know an innocent person whose name is on the no-fly list? My DH and I do know such a person and we know first-hand this problem is very real. Kindly re-read my second post and you will see that our friend had to change his last name, otherwise he would never be able to fly again without hours of interrogation.

gail, would you care to comment on this issue as your husband is on the list too?

My husband continues to be on some TSA or FBI list - not a NO FLY list, but an extra security list. He can rarely check-in on-line or at a kiosk. I remain fairly certain he is not a terrorist.

Please don't get me started again about the liberties and privacy we are giving up under the name of security - I am still waiting for someone to demonstrate how this has saved one US life.

I forget what show it was on (CNN World? Saw it in Italy), but the head of the British Conservative Party (sorry if I'm wrong) was talking about how everywhere in travel we have mostly what he calls "useless" security, where the time- and tax-consuming measures aren't very successful in achieving their goal. He said that we need to create more effective security measures.

I was soooo excited when I saw that someone in the higher levels of politics was FINALLY recognizing the problem.

Two brothers-in-law with extremely common Irish last names were on this list. They jumped through hoops, submitted letters (which were lost), resubmitted letters, etc. etc. and finally got a cryptic note that said something like "we have scrutinized the record and if there was an error we probably corrected it."