Trip Report WN BWI-ISP-BWI 03/19/02

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Arrived BWI and parked in the Green Lot as usual.  But what was unusual was
the wait for the shuttle bus to the terminal.  There was no wait and the
busses were evenly separated.  Being early; before noon helped.  Since it
was going to be cloudy for the entire day at BWI and ISP, I decided to leave
my cameras behind and just bring busy work such as slides to label and
AW&ST, Airliners and Airways Magazines to catch up on.  My only carry-on or
luggage was a laptop computer case with about 6 boxes of slides, the
magazines, and cards to fill out.  It was a weird feeling without the
cameras, but I soon got used to it.  After flying through security with my
only wait being after going thru metal detection the arrival of my bag which
was being held up by the scrutinizing of previous bags.  I arrived at gate
B-16 at 1022 and check-in was started well before the 1 hour before standard
at 1027, (1145 sked departure) because of the extended line.  I finally made
it to the counter at 1100; slowed due to it was discovered they were using
the same color boarding card at the gate across the corridor.  I was told
that the confusion of non-frequent fliers or those not paying attention
would cause major chaos at boarding time if the colors were the same.  They
then made numerous announcements to make sure everyone now had a blue
boarding card instead of a red one.  I finally walked away with #38 in the
second boarding group.  I lumbered over to the 2nd boarding group lane and
parked myself reading a couple issues of AW&ST I needed to catch up on.

The announcement came about 20 minutes before departure explaining the
boarding process and the need to execute random screenings.  The young lady
at the microphone said she would walk up to the boarding lanes and pick
passengers at random to be randomly screened.  She then said do not argue
with the security agent as they have no say in the matter of who is
selected.  Being first in line in the second lane...I was picked first!  I
was told to go over to the table.  The security lady at the table told me to
set my bag on the table and began to pilfer thru the Kodak slide boxes; just
a couple.  She didn't bother with the loupe pouch or the portable light box.
Then she looked into the accessories pockets which contained nothing, and
finally the outer pockets which contained the magazines.  She then asked if
I had any metal or anything in my pockets; I emptied my shades, ear plugs
and pen out of my shirt pocket and my wallet out of my pants pocket.  I was
then told to take my shoes off which were quickly inspected.  Since she
doesn't have a wand she asked if I would mind being patted down.   She
patted me down missing all the 'important parts'...having me turn
around and did the same.  She said I could put my shoes back on and
inspected my wallet in detail.  Saying "OK Done", the agent boarding the
flight was walking up the jetway after the preboards and said I was free to
board.  The gate screening didn't take but about 5 minutes.
I boarded for flight 136  "California One" N609SW which struck me strange
since it was a -300.  (All flights to ISP are supposed to be a -700 by
informal agreement with ISP; not a big deal as far as I was concerned.)  I
made my way to my preferred 21F and settled in.  The flight pushed back at
165200Z (7 min late) to taxi to 15R; a rolling takeoff with wheels up at
165533Z; followed by the normal left and turn towards the northeast.

After just over 5 minutes at cruise, descent was started at 171339Z.
Approaching ISP from the southeast, N609SW entered a 5 mile right-hand base
for runway 6 at ISP for a smooth landing at 173623Z in an at least 15-20
knot left-hand crosswind indicated by the windsock.  The aircraft was taxied
to Gate 16 wheels stopped at 173935Z.

Upon arrival back at ISP later that day about 2 1/2 hours early, I elected
to go ahead and proceed through security.  My bag went through without a
hitch, but on the other side of the metal detector the agent was not doing
anything and asked that I complete a personal screening.  He asked if I had
any bags on the belt, and after I mentioned yes, he said nicely face the
belt so you can see your belongings.  He wanded me front and back with the
arms out to my side routine and had me flip my belt buckle over and said
thank you sir.  I grabbed my bag and mentioned that his professionalism was
well presented and appreciated.

I lumbered over to the snack bar for a soft pretzel and Snapple to spend
time of the next two hours waiting for the flight back to BWI.  After about
20, minutes I made the short walk to the gate area finding a quiet place to
sit and write some Valentine's Day cards and screen some slides.  About one
hour and 15 before departure, I went down to gate 12 where WN 1151 (N771SA)
was to depart.  Since at an adjacent gate the desk was already open, the
agent asked if I wouldn't mind proceeding down to the next gate to check in.
No problem.  When I arrived there, this is when I mentioned about the
boarding cards and got the no go and story about collecting them.  After
about a minute, I was handed boarding card 1 and was on my way back over to
gate 12 to wait the next hour or so.

The gate screeners began to arrive; 6 of them.  Not having anything to do,
they talked and joked as I continued to write a personal letter.  Of those 6
gate screeners...all were well under 30 (if not 25) and 2 were very
attractive (damn hot actually) women.  I thought what can it hurt to be
randomly selected here, but looking around there were only about 10
passengers boarding the flight.  A "bag smasher" then came to the microphone
and mentioned the boarding process and possible random selection for the
additional gate screening.  A few minutes later the flight was called for
preboards (none) and a second later all passengers could board.  Walking
past the screeners, I ended up not being stopped and made my way to seat 21F
again.  A few passengers walked on board about five minutes before departure
obviously being held up for a random inspection since they were next to me
in the terminal.  Two decided they needed to use the lav literally two
minutes before pushback and the flight attendants had to make an effort to
advise them tactfully they were holding up the flight.  All this as the
Captain was leaning side his seat looking back to see when they took their
seats.  Five seconds later pushback began at 013555Z.  Wheels up was at
014117Z with a very steep and rapid climb with the light load. Heading about
10 miles to the southeast of ISP, the aircraft was turned southwest bound to
BWI.  A rainy overcast covered the arrival area and the aircraft was
vectored to the southeast to southwest and finally west to join about a 20
mile final to runway 10.  Wheels on was at 023618Z with parking at Gate B-15
at 024040Z.  Deplaning was quick with an uneventful ride to the green lot
and a 45 minute drive home.

Walter
DCA

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