I won't "slam" you, but I will respectfully disagree with you on a few points, while agreeing with you on others. First, I agree that this whole "no liquids by passengers" thing is ridiculous. No liquids are allowed from outside of the security checkpoint past the checkpoint. Inside the checkpoint, liquids can be bought and consumed, but not brought onboard. This is akin to not allowing guns at the checkpoint, but then selling them at the newspaper stand on the concourses. Ironically, the same day of this incident, I was informed by a flight attendant that passengers were boarding with drinks in hand. She asked if "policy" had changed. After checking with my dispatcher, I was told "no liquids" was still the rule. I then asked the gate agents why passengers were on board with their own drinks, and was told that they buy them on the concourses, put them in their carry-ons to hide them from the agents at the top of the jetway, then pull them out once onboard. This could all be remedied by having the TSA search everyone's carry-on at the top of the jetway (causing even more delays), or we could use common sense and believe that the cokes, coffee, and water sold on the concourses aren't explosive. Also, on the 717, our crew bags are stored in the cabin overheads. Passengers can't have their own liquids, but they have access to ours. Secondly, I agree with you that the crew involved in the diversion needs more training. Not REtraining, but MORE training. We all do. As of the date of the diversion and my incident at the gate, we were given no guidance as to what to do in these instances. I could have done anything - from what I did do (take the drinks from the passengers), to deplaning and reboarding (useless), to calling for the TSA (insert theme from "Mighty Dog"...here I come, to save the daaaaay). Which brings me to where I (again, respectfully) disagree with you: In the air, things are much different from on the ground. In the air, I can't deplane or call the TSA. I can ACARS my dispatcher and get guidance (not sure if the Capt. of the diversion did this or not; my guess is that he did, because planes usually don't divert without the concurance of both Capt. and dispatcher). Also, "smelled funny" means different things to different people. If I fart, I think it smells funny. Trust me man, you wouldn't! And, since 9/11, we aren't allowed (per our FOM) to open the cockpit door and go back to see if a F/A's "smells funny" is the same as our "smells funny". Bottom line: without being in the cockpit on that flight, I can't say I would or wouldn't have done the same thing. That there was no guidance on what to do, prior to this flight, is something that never should have happened. And, the TSA needs to understand how unenforceable and useless this rule is.
