TSA finds Batman-shaped blade, flare guns

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not need a bat signal to catch a passenger it said was carrying a punching blade. 

The agency said Friday that a passenger at San Antonio International Airport was caught with a blade that was shaped like Batman's famous "bat signal." 

The agency said the blade was one of more than two dozen weapons discovered this week at airports as holiday travel picked up. Among the other discoveries, the agency said Friday, was a flare gun with seven flares at Norfolk International Airport in Virginia. 

TSA's prohibited items include knives, "except for plastic or round-bladed butter knives"; flare guns must be in checked baggage and have to be "unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided container, and declared to the airline at check-in."

TSA spokesman Kawika Riley said the discovered items were against the rules "even if they're shaped like the bat signal."

"Knives, daggers and punching blades are prohibited as carry-ons," Riley said Friday. 

The lobbying group for airline companies, Airlines for America, recently estimated that between 1.6 million and 2.3 million passengers fly during the holiday travel period. Of course, they will all have to be screened by TSA before their flights. 

Here's a photo courtesy of TSA:

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