I swear it wasn't my fault...

OK so here is the story of how I shut down (well ok how i was involved in) the Vancouver airport. A bunch of months ago I asked my wife to get me a little swiss army style knife to cut those irritating and too long plastic straps for the 'chiptiming'. I had been looking for the knife in my last handful of races and assumed I had lost it...turns it I hadn't lost it.... and in the end it cost me and many other people about 90 mins on their flight and for some they couldn't even get on their flights (oops!)....here is the real story....

I hit some really bad traffic on my way down to the airport (construction and accidents) and only make it there about 40mins before my flight is supposed to go off (lucky for internet check in). I rush through security, but it's quiet. (I was simply happy to get on my flight as I was scared I might miss it).

So the Transport Canada guys put my bag thru the scanner. I wait and ask if it's okay to take it. They say, 'yes'. I leave, go to the plane and find my seat. Our pilot would like to take off early. 'Yeah', I think. But just as we are supposed to leave they tell us there has been a security breach and that we can't leave. '^$#&^^(%&' I now think). Oh well, I pull out my book and read. The RCMP and aiport people come through our plane a few times and we continue to sit there for the next hour plus.

On about the 4-5th run through this lady asks me if 'that's my water bottle'? 'Yes', I say, but it was empty and the security guys let me through with it. She then asks if I have a bag. Once again I reply 'Yes'. 'Can I see it', she says.? 'Sure it's right here'. I give her the bag and then she proceeds to walk me out of the plane with some RCMP officers. As I get up I see Jerry Ziak. 'Hey Mark', he says 'I didn't know you were on my flight'? I was all pretty surreal at that point.

I go back to the security check point and one of the officers asks me if I know why I am out here. 'I assume you think I have something' I told him. He asks me point blank if I have a weapon or anything resembling one. I can't imagaine anything and mention I have some foot cream (OH I think to myself I forgot to show it to the security guys...yikes....). 'I have some safety pins' I tell him. 'I am racing this weekend and I pack everything I need to race in case my luggage goes missing on the flight'.

I am pretty calm and more like did I do something wrong. So they put my bag back thru the scanner and everyone lets out a cheer. What the $%&*$*%^ think. Another RCMP guy goes throug my bag in front of me. He misses some of the samller pockets on my bag so i tell him about all the compartments (there are many) and then proceeds to go into the main part of the bag. It's then I notice an inside pocket I have (I had emptied out all my pockets the night before and repacked, except for that one). Out he pulls this small pocket knife. 'I had no idea that was there' I say. The RCMP guy checking my bag was a bit of a jerk and procceds to give me a mini lecture on packing my bag. I feel bad enough as it is without some lecture.

The other RCMP guy I had been dealing with (who was great) tells me it happens more than one thinks. I still feel like an ass though. They were even going to do a body search on me ('it's procedure', one of the airport guys says), but once they found the knife they decided there was no danger they let me back on the plane. And the didn't even charge me...

On the way back to the plane I ask the YVR person and the Westjet guy who was in charge (very nice people) exactly has happened. They proceed to indicate to me that the Transport Canada people really messed up. Apparently the scanner person had noticed the knife and had indicated that my bag needed to be checked, but the person at the next stage of security hadn't checked it. I guess just after I got into the plane the scanner person asked the second person if they had found the questionable item. The second person then apparently asked' what item?' and then the security breach began. But first they had to find me (they had some nice security video picture of me) and I had been wearing a black jacket at security and had taken it off in the plane.

In the end I had really done nothing serious wrong and Transport Canada had really messed up (the Westjet guy even seemed to indicate I could file a report/complaint) as they had missed my knife and had also messed up protocol by not taking my boarding pass.

The entertaining part (is that the right word to use?)were the people who mentioned how their flight had been delayed and then I proceeded to explain why. Even better was a boyfriend of a girl who I know and was running in Ottawa. He had been on the flight with me and had told her how the police had taken me away. 'But I know that guy..he's Mark Bomba', she told him.

Even funnier is the number of people who heard the story and ddin't know I was involved. Apparently there were reports of a switchblabe and many people at my wife's wrok had heard about it. One person was even worried that the breach had impacted my flight.....if they only knew what was really happening at that time.