First of all he was coming from Scotland and his first mistake was having 2 bottles of Jagermeister in his luggage. My Lord man, you needed to bring some good single malt scotch whisky. But don't drink it until you get back home.
I’ve brought back many bottles of single malt from Scotland. Edinburg is one of my favorite layovers.
But, to avoid the headaches of UK security, I buy at the duty free.
They seal the bag when I buy anything. I cannot, legally, unseal the bag, until back in the US.
If you buy alcohol in the country, you have to check the bag. I’ve done this with Gin in London. Buy the small-batch Gin, put it in my bag, check the bag with customer service outside security. Pick it up at baggage claim when I land at home.
I don’t know the “two bottles of Jäegermeister” got through the X-ray machine or security. I would have thought they would be confiscated at that point. UK security is famously difficult. Not effective. Just difficult.
UK security once removed every single item from my bag and re-ran the empty bag through x-ray over and over because of “something suspicious”. The security officer then started tearing into the lining. He produced an errant chapstick, that I had lost long ago. He held it up and said, “Ah HA! Contraband!” “You should know better than this, Sir, you should have placed this in your one quart plastic bag!”
I replied that a chapstick is wax, and therefor not subject to liquid and gel restrictions and that I had lost it, not hid it. He threw it in his “contraband” bin with great ceremony and then proceeded to berate me for not repacking my bag more quickly.
I took a step back, and invited him to repack it himself, since he had dumped everything out of it, if he was unhappy with the care I was giving to my personal effects.
That, folks, is UK security. When you walk in, they place themselves about 4 inches (10CM if you’re in the UK) from your face to “smell” your breath. They don’t answer questions. They bark orders. They are rude, unhelpful, and known the worldwide among airline crews. A great many crews avoid the UK because of the treatment at UK security, so, no, I don’t believe that the “two bottle of Jaegermeister” slipped through UK security.
I have a suspicion that the two bottles of Jager were bought at Duty Free - and as such, not relevant to the story.
They are merely a salacious detail added by the press to cast aspersions on this pilot.
