Going to the airport can be a stressful experience.
You worry your bag is too big or too heavy for the airline allowances even though you
weighed it at home – twice.
Halfway through the journey to the airport, you panic as you realize you’ve left your
passport at home.
And when you finally make it in, you’re worried that somehow you won’t make it to
the boarding gate on time and will miss the flight.
Or maybe I’m just a neurotic mess.
But whether you're a jet setter who sees the airport as a second home or the type who feels
their blood pressure increasing as soon as they enter the terminal, you might have found
yourself wondering just how far you can step out of line.
You might get a slap on the wrist for leaving your perfume in your hand luggage, but what
would it really take to get arrested?
Chances are, a night in prison probably isn’t going to be on the cards for most flying felonies
– as long as you’re not stupid enough to do any of these things.
Some rules are as simple as keeping your passport in good condition and not being under the
influence of drugs, but there are also some more obscure rules, like not shining lasers
at planes or writing down their names.
So, if you want to be sure that you always make it to your destination on time without
a lengthy detour in a jail cell, you should probably keep watching.
Topping the list of painfully obvious things you should never, ever, ever do at an airport
is carry an item that could be mistaken for a bomb with you.
You might be thinking ‘Infographics, who on earth would do that?’
Well, I’ve got news for you.
An artist once found himself in a precarious position when he went through airport security
with a homemade wrist watch complete with various fuses, wires, and switches – basically,
it looked exactly like a bomb, and it even seemed to have a timer.
Perfect.
To complete his suspicious ensemble, the man wore a military-style shirt, tried to evade
the check, and even tried to hide his watch from officers by putting it in a bin.
You can imagine how that went down.
But despite all the drama, the item on his wrist wasn’t even a weapon – it was art,
darling.
Eventually the court realized that the eccentric artist was telling the truth and his watch
was genuinely just a useless piece of junk – sorry, art – rather than a dangerous
weapon.
And the deeper meaning behind the piece?
Not a clue.
But the poor sod was charged for possession of materials that could be used to make a
bomb, and ended up paying $150,000 in bail money.
Ouch.
There aren’t many people in the world who build dubious wrist accessories for a hobby,
but it turns out that you can also be arrested for taking something much more benign.
I’m talking about taking an accessory that simply features a gun.
A seventeen-year-old girl was once prevented from boarding her flight in a US airport because
she had a purse that had an ornamental gun on its front.
She might have been suffering from poor fashion taste, but it doesn’t exactly take a genius
to work out that a rectangular bag with the outline of a gun in diamantes can not be used
to kill.
Whilst the incident didn’t quite end with an arrest, she was detained and missed her
flight after being told she’d committed a federal offense for carrying the replica
of a gun with her.
A slightly extreme overreaction.
With such extensive security checks and unwarranted concern for just about anything, many people
find themselves longing to break the tension by telling a joke.
Ever felt tempted to make a pun about having ten grams of cocaine or a bomb in your baggage
to ease the tension when going through security?
You might have wondered if there would really be any consequences, given you were obviously
just being sarcastic.
Well, the answer is yes.
Yes, there will.
American football player Trevor Davis was arrested in a Los Angeles airport for just
that – he allegedly asked his companion if she’d packed the explosives when the
officer asked him what he had in his luggage.
Top quality banter.
Until he was arrested for making a misdemeanor threat.
One thing that I personally have never felt an urge to do is pretend to be an air attendant
whilst on the plane.
To be fair, I can see the attraction – it does sound kind of fun, and long-haul flights
can get boring.
Still, I wouldn’t recommend it.
A few free-spirited passengers have given this stunt a go in the past, and the whole
thing has ended in tears – or rather, their arrest.
As you might expect, they were all under the influence of alcohol.
Unfortunately, being a lawful citizen whilst trotting across the globe isn’t as simple
as memorizing a few easy rules about what you can and can’t do in airports.
Each country has its own rulebook, and some stick to them more dogmatically than others.
Dubai has become a holiday destination of choice thanks to its dramatic skylines, ideal
climate, and amazing beaches.
But if you plan on visiting, you might want to read up on the local rules before landing.
In 2015, two tourists were arrested for noting down the names of aircraft in Fujairah Airport
of the United Arab Emirates.
Officials believed they were guilty of spying, but they were actually just keen plane spotters.
If you ask me, that’s just as much of a crime.
The men had been wandering around to look for old and rare aircraft in the vicinity,
and wrote down the names of some of the gems they found so they could remember them forever.
Nothing remotely suspicious about that, right?
They also had cameras with them, and although they didn’t actually take any photos of
the planes, security believed otherwise.
A spokesperson from Dubai Airport confirmed after the ordeal that visitors can only take
photos of aircraft in the airport if approval is granted first, and the reason for filming
must be given.
You also can’t take photos of some government buildings, military installations, or people,
or post photos online that criticize the region or the airport.
All these things have definitely been done numerous times with no consequences, but if
you want to be really safe, just steer clear of photos and social media whilst you’re
there.
Singapore is notorious for its many laws, which range from the arbitrary to the terrifying,
and you could be subjected to many of them before you even enter the country.
The nation’s Changi Airport is one of the most impressive in the world, with entire
cinemas and green areas inside – so nice, in fact, that many people want to get in despite
having no intention of actually taking a flight.
Singapore faced many people entering the transit area of the airport to either say farewell
to their loved ones at the very last minute, to make the most of the shopping opportunities,
or even to harass celebrities they’ve heard are there.
So many people, in fact, that local police officers started to threaten visitors with
a hefty fine and two years in prison.
That’s got to sting when you’ve already forked out the cash on a ticket you never
intended to use.
It’s no little-known fact that entering an airport high or drunk is a pretty stupid
idea, wherever you are in the world, but you definitely don’t want to do it in Singapore.
As soon as you enter the airport, you stand a chance of being randomly selected for a
drug test by the authorities.
Even if you consumed the drugs in a different country, you could still be arrested.
And you definitely don’t want to have a run-in with the law in this country, where
caning is still commonplace.
Also, it won’t quite land you a jail sentence, but you could land yourself a steep fine of
$150 for nothing more than failing to flush the toilet whilst you’re there.
Mind you, I’m not sure how anyone would ever find out unless the person who went in
after you grassed on you.
Then there’s North Korea.
You might expect this unusual country to have some strange laws when it comes to airports,
and you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Whilst not as popular a tourist destination as its southern neighbor, you might be surprised
to know that tourism is on the rise in North Korea.
If you truly want to outdo the edgy and daring vacation spots of your friends, you might
be tempted to go.
But if you’re American, it’s probably not a good idea to pay a visit – you could
get arrested just for your nationality.
The US and North Korea have had beef for a while now, and various tourists have been
arrested there for no apparent reason, leading to the conclusion their only crime was being
American.
As far as absurd or arbitrary reasons for getting arrested go, that’s got to be pretty
up there.
You also can’t call the country North Korea whilst you’re there, which I imagine could
be quite easy to slip up on.
Instead, try the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK.
And, similarly to the UAE, there’s no taking pictures of planes, or pretty much anything
there that isn’t their own propaganda.
You really have to be on your guard the second you step out of that plane.
The US has some unique rules for airports too, especially concerning lasers.
Those keyrings that have lasers built in are fun, right?
Pointing them at your friends, cars, signs… hours of fun.
But whatever you do, don’t point them at an airplane, unless you fancy being under
home arrest for two months and two years of probation.
That’s exactly what happened to American Michael Brandon Smith, who was bored and trying
to entertain himself in his garden with his mini laser – we’ve all been there – when
he had the genius idea of seeing whether he could strike a helicopter flying over with
his laser.
Innocent experiment, right?
Wrong.
That’s because the lasers might not look like much from the ground, but the light can
be thrown all the way up to an airplane and is amplified further by the Plexiglass window.
Instead of seeing a dull flash, the pilot is met with an overwhelming explosion of neon
that prevents them from seeing anything else, and becomes disorientated.
This can cause serious accidents or even result in a crash.
Yet people keep on doing it – in 2013, there were thousands of cases in the US.
In 2014, a man landed 14 years in jail for using a particularly strong laser.
In the case of Michael Smith, the helicopter he pointed his laser at turned out to be a
police helicopter on its way to help out with a burglary call – the emergency had to be
abandoned thanks to the mayhem caused by the laser light.
But luckily it was just consumer grade and not commercial grade like the one of the man
jailed for fourteen years, so the FBI looked upon it more favorably.
So next time you’re packing for the airport, leave your laser at home.
To be honest, if you’re packing your mini laser with you when you travel for some holiday
entertainment, you might want to reevaluate your life anyway.
There are some rules applicable to airports in pretty much every country – one of them
is to ensure your passport remains complete and in good condition.
It might not sound like a big deal, but having your passport ruined in even the slightest
way has the potential to be disastrous.
One British woman was detained in the Maldives after officials found that two pages were
missing from her passport, and faced spending months in an immigration detention center.
Exactly how she managed to lose the pages is still unknown.
Other problems can also cause an issue, such as ink spillage, water damage, a hole punch,
indecipherable personal details, or discoloration of the bio-data page.
There are also some more general rules that, whilst they may not get you arrested, they
could certainly land you in some trouble.
We all know that you need to match your passport picture to be able to pass through security,
and this has caused trouble to some people who have dramatically changed their look.
If you just dye your hair or try out a new shade of lipstick, you’ll most likely be
fine – but if you go as far as taking out multiple plastic surgery procedures, it could
be a different story.
Three Chinese women traveled to South Korea for plastic surgery, but found they couldn’t
return because their faces had been altered so dramatically, the border force couldn’t
be sure they were who they claimed to be.
Now, that’s got to be embarrassing.
You should also refrain from patting sniffer dogs, no matter how cute and fluffy they look.
Arrests due to this aren’t common, but you don’t want to push your luck.
There are also some individual airlines who have slightly, well, unusual, requests to
make of their passengers.
American Airlines say they won’t carry passengers who have an offensive odor.
Whilst you won’t get arrested for being stinky, you could get pulled from an airplane
or refused to board it in the first place.
Hawaiian Airlines don’t let people on board if they’re perceived to have unacceptable
hairstyles.
Which would be fair enough – if they were a Catholic school or a corporate boss rather
than a company that carries people for recreational visits.
The so-called offensive hairstyles include extreme colors, dreadlocks, Mohawks, and even
top-knots – so, I’m guessing no man buns.
If you watched this video and felt like you could be one of those people who gets arrested
at an airport for a silly reason, you might want to take some further precautions.
Check out our videos about dumb reasons people are arrested and put in jail, or the man who
ended up in prison after refusing to reveal his identity.
Whichever you pick, click now!