Everyone, animal and thing that goes onto an aircraft is examined before boarding commences. This is true for wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility equipment. In fact, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have discovered various unusual objects concealed in wheelchairs and on the travelers that use them, like loaded firearms and bundles of cocaine. Therefore, when you use a scooter or wheelchair, you and your mobility equipment has to be examined somehow.

Airport Security for Scooters and Wheelchairs

If you utilize a scooter or wheelchair and are not able to stand and walk through the metal sensor, you are examined with your mobility machine. This may include a visual and bodily (pat down) checking and explosives trace testing. The pat-down examination is essential since neither a metal sensor nor a complete body imaging machine work on people who are sitting in a scooter or wheelchair. You can request a private pat-down examination; you definitely do not need to undergo this publicly if it causes you to feel uneasy.

You will have to put baskets, saddlebags, wheelchair set up equipment, purses along with carry-on products on the x-ray equipment belt. Should this be hard for you to perform, request help from your security inspector.

Airport Security for Walkers

Your walker will be X-rayed if it can go through the equipment. Remember to fold it before the X-ray procedure starts. All holders or bags that usually dangle from your walker have to go through the X-ray device. Should your walker be overly large to be X-rayed, security screeners will examine it independently. Should you need assistance standing up or walking through the metal sensor without your walker, ask the security inspector for help.

Airport Security for Canes and Crutches
Canes and crutches need to pass through the X-ray equipment. It is best to fold your cane before it gets X-rayed. You can request assistance standing or walking through the metal sensor. White collapsible canes need not be X-rayed.

In Conclusion
TSA screeners are educated to assist travelers through the security checking procedure with as much dignity as possible. They should assist you to stand up, walk and position objects on the X-ray belt should you request help. If you request or have to undergo a pat-down checking, they can perform this examination out of public sight at your request. It is possible to ask for a same-sex security screener for the pat down and, only if extraordinary conditions dictate otherwise, somebody of your gender checks you.

Should issues surface during your testing, request to talk to a TSA supervisor. Additionally, you can email the TSA at TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov. Should you have problems undergoing the examining procedure because you are on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watch list, you could contact the One-Stop Travelers’ Redress Program at the DHS webpage to correct this problem.