Late last night I was on a completely full Southwest flight from LAX to Nashville and something unusual happened at the gate. There were a bunch of TSA agents checking IDs and boarding passes right there, even though we’d already gone through security.
One couple got pulled aside and had all their stuff searched. Bags opened, clothes taken out and squeezed, hands swabbed and tested. TSA was chatting with them the whole time and it didn’t feel like they were in trouble, just a very thorough search. They spent at least 15 minutes on it.
I boarded early so I’m not sure if others were searched too, but once on the plane everything felt normal.
Has anyone seen this before or know what usually triggers gate side TSA checks like this?
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