TSA Agent Opens Canister Containing Man's Grandfather's Ashes, Spills It, Laughs
An appalling TSA story for the books:
John Gross, a resident of Indianapolis' south side, was leaving Florida with the remains of his grandfather—Mario Mark Marcaletti, a Sicilian immigrant who worked for the Penn Central Railroad in central Indiana—in a tightly sealed jar marked "Human Remains."
"They opened up my bag, and I told them, 'Please, be careful. These are my grandpa's ashes,'" Gross told RTV6's Norman Cox. "She picked up the jar. She opened it up."I was told later on that she had no right to even open it, that they could have used other devices, like an X-ray machine. So she opened it up. She used her finger and was sifting through it. And then she accidentally spilled it."
Gross says about a quarter to a third of the contents spilled on the floor, leaving him frantically trying to gather up as much as he could while anxious passengers waited behind him."She didn't apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn't pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me."
In other news, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) has proposed to extend TSA services to all mass transit.
