Video: How To Pack Your Bag To Zip Through Airport TSA Checkpoint

DULLES, VA — Want to avoid having to check your carry-on bag or discard a personal item to make your flight? Officials at Washington Dulles International Airport recently demonstrated how to pack a bag correctly in a move to educate travelers about what items they can bring to the airport and what belongings should be left at home.

(See the demonstration video below.)

"We're not there to stop them from flying," said Scott Johnson, Dulles Airport's federal security director. "We're there to ensure that they don't have anything bad in their bag, something prohibited, and get them through the checkpoint as expeditiously as possible and still provide the world class security that Dulles TSA is used to."

Most of the carry-on bags that are X-rayed at a Dulles Airport security checkpoint turn out to be clear, according to Larry Morgan, who just celebrated his 21st year as a Transportation Security Administration officer. But when the X-ray screener detects a prohibited item, such as a weapon or a bottle containing more than 3.4 ounces of liquid, TSA personnel will search the bag to find the prohibited item.

"We give them their choices. They can go back out and check the bag if they'd like, or they can go and take it to their car," Morgan said. "If they have a person who dropped them off, they can call and say, 'Hey, will you come back and get this prohibited item?'"

TSA will not confiscate the prohibited item, but travelers can surrender it at the checkpoint instead. If the traveler refuses to take any of these options, TSA won't allow them to pass through the checkpoint and board a plane.

In 2022, TSA detected 25 firearms at Dulles Airport security checkpoints. If the X-ray officer detects firearms or ammunition, the TSA inspection team will respond to the checkpoint and call the local department, which is the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority Police at Dulles Airport. They will immediately begin a background investigation of the person with the weapon or ammunition in their carry-on bag.

View a video of TSA Officer Larry Morgan showing how to pack a bag that's going to be checked and what items can be brought through an airport checkpoint.

To help answer last-minute questions travelers might have before they got to the airport, TSA provided this list of resources:

• TSA has a great feature on its homepage. In the upper right-hand corner of the homepage it says “What Can I Bring?” Click on those words, type in an item, and it will let you know where the item should be packed.
• MyTSA app. TSA has a free downloadable app called MyTSA, which has a quick search function that lets you know which items you can bring with you through the checkpoint and onto the airplane. Not only that, but the app also enables travelers to check the delay information at their airports, check how busy the airport is likely to be on a specific day and time of travel based on historical data and it lets people know which airports and airlines support TSA PreCheck.
• Tweet your question. TSA is very active on social media and has a popular Twitter account where travelers can send their questions: @AskTSA. Type in the item or send in a photo of the item to @AskTSA to inquire if the item can be packed in a carry-on or checked bag.
• Send a question via Facebook. TSA’s social media team is on Facebook and travelers can send in their question about where items should be packed via Facebook Messenger.
• Send a question via text message. Travelers can send in a question to TSA via text message. Text “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872) to inquire where an item should be packed