TSA Defends Decision To Make 95-Year-Old Remove Adult Diaper For Screening

The Transportation Security Administration says its officers acted "professionally" when they asked a 95-year-old woman with cancer to remove her adult diaper during a security screening at Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

The Northwest Florida Daily News reports:

Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.

Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.

"It's something I couldn't imagine happening on American soil," Weber said Friday. "Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this."

The search happened June 18, but it didn't get attention until this weekend and CNN reports that the TSA responded with a statement on Sunday afternoon:

"While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the federal agency said. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure."

Weber told CNN that TSA agents told her they felt something suspicious and it had to do her mother's adult diaper. Weber said she broke down in tears, when they said her mother needed to remove the diaper. Her mother, said Weber, is a retired nurse, so she was calm. And now she's in Michigan, where Weber told CNN, her family "was treating her like royalty because they love her so much."

Here is CNN's video report: