Marion Howell was told that no woman was available for a security check at Bathurst Airport
Marion Howell, 62, was going home to Ajax, Ontario, from northern New Brunswick last week. Her trip to the airport was supposed to be like any other.
Howell felt ready when she got to the Bathurst Airport. She got there early and put all of her liquids in a clear plastic bag, which is what airport security recommends.
But Howell has a heart murmur, so she got a pacemaker 15 years ago to help keep her heart rate in check. She said that her doctor told her to stay away from security scanners because they could mess with the medical device and cause problems.
“I told the guy, ‘I can’t go through the metal detector. I’m wearing a pacemaker. I want a woman to touch me all over.”
No women availabl
But, Howell said, the security screeners told her that the only woman security officer in the building was not trained for a manual search. She could either let a male guard pat her down or miss her flight.
On the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, it says that a person may need a physical search at airport security if they have a medical condition (like a pacemaker) that makes using a scanner dangerous.
Dr. Satish Toal, an electrophysiologist at the New Brunswick Heart Centre, said that security scanners don’t pose a big risk to pacemakers that were made recently. But devices that are older, like Howell’s, are more likely to be disturbed.
“Whenever two magnets are close to each other, they will interact, which could cause trouble,” he said. He says that you shouldn’t stay under a security scanner for more than 30 seconds.
Howell remembers asking the security guards over and over again for a woman to search her.
She said, “I ended up having a panic attack and crying because they wouldn’t let me through.”
WATCH | A woman from Ontario talks about what happened to her at the Bathurst Airport:
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which is a Crown corporation, is in charge of screening people and their bags at airports like Bathurst’s.
“A physical search is always done by a screening officer who is the same gender as the passenger,” the CATSA website says. If a screening officer of the same gender isn’t available for some reason, other screening options will be offered.”
Howell said, “I know they’re just doing their job,” and added that one of the officers seemed to understand her situation. She said that another officer, on the other hand, was rude.
“He was the mean one,” Howell said.”It was like they were playing a game of “good cop, bad cop.”
Howell said that the officer started moving her things, which had already been through the X-ray machine and were left unattended on the other side. Howell said that her sister was there to watch her bags, which was lucky.
Toal said that people with pacemakers should bring cards with them in case they need to go through security checks. Howell told her that her card was in her bag.
She said that at one point, she pulled down her shirt on her own to show the police her scar. She said that she had never felt like she had to do something like that before.
The officers told Howell’s sister that she could watch the pat down if it would make her feel better. Howell agreed, but the conversation still shook him up.
When she finally got through, airport security called her to a place where RCMP officers were waiting. They said she didn’t want to be patted down.
Howell remembered telling them, “No, that’s not right.” “I didn’t say no to being patted down. I didn’t want a man to pat me down. It’s not the same.”
Howell said that the police told her they weren’t going to arrest her, but they did get her name and phone number. Friday, people asked the RCMP for an interview, but they didn’t answer.
Howell was able to get on the plane in the end. But when she got to her destination, she filed a formal complaint with CATSA.
In an email to CBC, the authority said it had received Howell’s complaint and was looking into the situation.
“Privacy laws mean that we can’t talk about specific complaints,” the email said.
The statement also said that passengers are offered a physical search by an officer of the same gender, but “in some cases, such as in smaller airports where a screening officer of the same gender may not be available, passengers can request a witness to watch the search.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines have been short-staffed, but Duncan Dee, who used to be the chief operating officer of Air Canada, said that the opposite is true for CATSA.
“They said they have more staff than they did before the pandemic, even though there are fewer travelers,” Dee said.
“Anyone who sets off an alarm when going through the detectors at the airport is likely to need a physical search. Since, you know, about half of travelers could be women, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority requires that there be a woman screener on duty at all times.”
Katherine Ayre, who is a lawyer for aviation liability, said that it has always been hard to get women interested in aviation.
There aren’t many women in the field
“It’s hard to get women to work as pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, or security guards at airports,” she said.
In Howell’s case, security would need her permission to do a physical search, and Ayre said that the process is not invasive.
“It is almost always done with the utmost professionalism, courtesy, sensitivity, and privacy.”
But Dee said that the “alternative screening option” of having a witness watch the physical search was “entirely inappropriate.” Ayre also said, “Every manual search must be seen, and it should usually be done in a private place.”
Respect still require
In an email, CATSA said that screening officers should always treat passengers with respect and kindness.
Dee said that CATSA should not have a shift of screeners that are all men “under any circumstances.”
“It is a huge violation of their own rules that they didn’t have a female screener scheduled to work during that shift.”
After what he went through, it wasn’t easy for Howell to settle down.
She said, “I was still so shocked and upset that I had chest pains while I was flying from Bathurst to Toronto.”