Incompetent TSA Sends Six to Hospital; Is Anyone Surprised?

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

Caroline joined Boston-based SmarterTravel in 2011 after living in Ireland, London, and Manhattan. She's traveled to all seven continents, jumped out of planes, and bungeed off bridges in the pursuit of a good story. She loves exploring off-the-beaten path destinations, anything outdoorsy, and all things adventure.

Her stories have also appeared online at USA Today, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Boston.com, TripAdvisor, Buzzfeed, Jetsetter, Oyster, Airfarewatchdog, and others.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "Earplugs. A good pair has saved my sleep and sanity many times!"

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.

Travel Motto: "Don't be boring."

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E-mail her at cteel@smartertravel.com.

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The TSA was left red-faced (literally) after an incident at Newark Airport. The NY Post reports that TSA agent Chris Yves Dabel found a can of pepper spray at a security checkpoint in Newark Airport.

Dabel reportedly began playing with the canister (he told Port Authority cops that he “found the canister on the floor and thought it was a laser pointer”).

Dabel ended up accidentally spraying five other TSA agents near him, and all of them had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. (Dabel refused medicial attention.) Security checks were stopped for at least 15 minutes during the incident, but no passengers were injured by the errant spray.

Newark Airport’s security was already in the spotlight after TSA agents failed to detect an undercover agent with a fake bomb during a test last month.

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