Sky Harbor International Airport has received multiple complaints from people with medical issues and disabilities that they have been subjected to the airport’s degrading and humiliating screenings. The number of complaints has even doubled in 2012.
The Arizona Republic has recovered documents revealing the details of the complaints. Agents from the Transportation Security Administration have been conducting security searches on people that needed to pass through the airport’s metal detector. However, several passengers have filed complaints that they were given derogative treatment by the security agents. These passengers are those seated on a wheelchair, have artificial legs, breast cancer survivors, and those under insulin and other life-saving medications.
The passengers complained of being forced to stand, confiscating of medicines, being subjected to dangerous scan procedure, and experiencing painful or humiliating pat downs done publicly.
One notable incident involved a woman in a wheelchair who has an oxygen tank attached to it. The agents drawn their guns on her and labeled her a terrorist. They even accused her of smuggling contraband goods. When she returned home, she reported that all of her prescribed pills for pain had been forcibly taken away from her.
TSA has tried to keep its security policy clear for all passengers. All of their advisories are posted on their website together with the explanations of their security search procedures on their official blog site.
"Passengers with prostheses can be screened without removing them," posted on the website.
The security agency also blogged in November 2011:
"When our officers are hired, they are given extensive training on screening passengers with disabilities and they continue to receive recurring training throughout their career. TSA has established a coalition of over 70 disability-related groups and organizations to help us understand the concerns of persons with disabilities and medical conditions. These groups have assisted TSA with integrating the unique needs of persons with disabilities into our airport operations."
In the latter part of 2011, the TSA has launched the so-called ‘TSA Cares,’ a hotline that gives early travel advice to passengers with special medical conditions.
