STRANGE, BUT TRUE AIRPORT NEWS

It's OK - he's related to me by marriage.  This is the excuse made by a worker at Newark Liberty International Airport who used his airport ID badge -- which is considered a federal credential -- to get his brother-in-law past TSA security at Terminal C, according to the Star-Ledger.  Guiseppe Gervasio's little stunt caused the terminal to be shut down for more than two hours.  And did I mention that he did this on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks?  His badge was confiscated and the incident is being investigated by his employer, Continental Airlines.

My delicate feet won't be touchin' that dirty floor, mate.  Two pilots for an unnamed Australian carrier (my guess is that it rhymes with "bahntas") refused to remove their shoes at a security check at the Philippines' Ninoy Aquino International Airport , complaining that the floor was too dirty, according to an article in the Global Nation.  The crew allegedly said they weren't against airport security, just dirty floors.  The airport has a mandatory shoe removal policy in effect, but cleaners washed the floor and the pilots removed their shoes without further incident.

JK Rowling to JFK TSA: Don't mess with Harry Potter!  Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she won an argument with TSA security at JFK Airport last month to bring on board her only copy of the next Harry Potter book, according to an article in the Washington Post.  Rowling was in New York for a charity event with authors Stephen King and John Irving and was returning home right after the failed terrorist plot in London.  At security, she was told she couldn't carry the book on board as carry-on luggage.  TSA eventually relented, so relax -- the next book will be out right on schedule.

Why red lights are important -- even when you're flying.  A light plane made an emergency landing on a Montreal street, surprising hundreds of people enjoying a nice summer day, according to an article in the Gazette.  The pilot said he was forced to land after the engine inexplicably stalled.  He glided onto Park Street, touching down at a traffic light, which was red.  No one was injured.

So it really was a pump (subtitle - let me get that hearing test).  Remember that "Strange, But True" entry about the man who allegedly claimed his penis pump was a bomb at a security stop at O'Hare?  He said he was misunderstood and that he did say he had the pump, but he was arrested anyway.  Well it looks like he really *did* say it was a pump, and local prosecutors decided to drop the case.

Warning - stay away from the airport bar in Korea!  Drunk people will no longer be able to board flights in Korea beginning in January if the country's national assembly passes revisions to aviation safety and security laws, according to an article in Hankook Ilbo.  According to the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines had 362 air rage cases between 2001 and May last year.  About 40 percent of them, or 139 cases, were caused by  passenger drinking.

But the bunny is so cute!!  The airport at North Connel, Oban in Scotland has ordered the "culling" of thousands of rabbits that live underneath the airfield, according to an article in the Scotsman.  The airport is upgrading the runway, but holes made by the burrowing rabbits have caused damage, which could make it dangerous for aircraft to land.  The city council is paying 10,000 pounds for a company to place poison in the rabbit warrens.