Safety and Security Complacency?

    The above pictures were taken on November 20, 2009 on an ERJ 175. They show a woman working with 14" crochet needles (top) and those same needles resting on a pillow during the approach and landing sequence (bottom). 

This scenario raises a few questions:

1. How was the woman able to pass through the security checkpoint with these crochet needles? If box cutters and other sharp objects are prohibited, why would 14" solid needles with pointed ends be allowed?

2. Once in flight, why did the flight attendants not ask the woman to stow these needles during the approach and landing sequence? With the needles on her lap, should the aircraft have crashed, the needles would have become airborne darts and could have impaled either the woman or passengers seated near her. 

    This is just one example of safety and security complacency acting together. These needles should not have been allowed in the cabin to begin with and the flight attendants should have known better than to allow the needles to be on the woman's lap during landing. It can be surmised that there was a level of complacency by both the security screeners and the flight attendants in allowing this scenario to occur. It does make one wonder how many other things are being "overlooked" or ignored. We can do a much better job. Part of what we do at TACG is to help improve these processes.