Steak Knives from JFK Restaurants inside the “Sterile Area”

Steak Knives from JFK Restaurants inside the “Sterile Area”

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Steak Knives from JFK Restaurants inside the Sterile Area

According to a report in Newsday, passengers in JFK airport in New York can take steak knives with 5-inch serrated steel blades from two restaurants inside the “sterile” area past the security checkpoint.

Following this report, the Port Authority banned the metal steak knives from restaurants inside the secure areas.

According to HS Today, reporters conducted several tests at JFK, slipping the wood-handled knives into a briefcase after asking their server to clear their plate. In one case, the individual actually left the restaurant with the knife in the briefcase. No one came looking for the missing knife.

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In tests over the month leading up to the holiday travel season, reporters visited both of the steak restaurants – The Palm Bar and Grille and Bobby Van’s Steakhouse – three times on different shifts with different servers. Servers never noticed the knives went missing at the end of the meal.

On one occasion, a reporter attempted to go through security with a small pocket knife. A TSA (Transport Security Administration) screener immediately noticed the knife and indicated that no knives could fly. However, once past TSA security and inside what TSA calls the sterile area of the airport, Newsday indicated “knives are free for the taking.”

Last year, TSA proposed lifting the ban on small knives with non-locking blades shorter than 2.36 inches, but quickly backed down after protests from flight attendants concerned that pocket knives presented an unnecessary risk to their safety. The steak knives would not have been allowed even if the restrictions had been relaxed.