Steve Jobs Stopped at Japan Airport Over Ninja Stars

[samh004]

I thought this might interest a few members, and also spark a little debate. Apparently he was stopped at security when they found ninja throwing stars in his hand luggage, and had to discard them, before saying he would never visit Japan again!

From Bloomberg, though originally from Japanese tabloid magazine SPA!:

Jobs said it wouldn't make sense for a person to try to hijack his own plane, according to the report. He then told officials he would never visit Japan again, the magazine reported. Apple declined to comment.

I guess it makes sense if the airport doesn’t have separate boarding arrangements for public and private jet passengers. I always thought of private jets being parked in a hangar away from the terminal with a car just driving in and then the a/c driving out. Or have I been watching too many movies.

 

[anat0l]

I think the authenticity of this article is rather shaky at best.

If it were true, then smack Jobs in the back of the head. He was going through an airport - a secure facility - and without a permit of course something like that was going to be confiscated.

In addition, when they said that after discovering the shurikens that they were "thrown away", that's a rather interesting (or rather, potentially dangerous) pun right there.....

 

[Homer]

The incidents in the report have since been described as “pure fiction” by Apple.

 

[jamesatfish]

I always thought of private jets being parked in a hangar away from the terminal with a car just driving in and then the a/c driving out. Or have I been watching too many movies.

I've never been to Japan so can't comment on the airport facilities over there, but in the US most private aircraft operate either out of separate terminals to the commercial flights (there is a private terminal at LAX for instance) or, more typically, out of completely separate airports (in LA, Van Nuys is a popular one).

International departures from the US are organised by the charter company (or the people who look after all your affairs if you're rich enough to own the aircraft yourself) - in the 'olden days' the departure process was simply making sure that you gave up your green I-94 immigration card but I imagine these days there's some electronic equivalent.

Don't know about international arrivals into the US specifically other than you are of course subject to the normal customs and border controls.

When flying from a private terminal / airport there are certainly no TSA restrictions or other security inspections - indeed you do pull up in the car, walk across the tarmac and onto the aircraft.

If Steve was expecting to fly out of Japan from a private terminal then he'd no doubt have assumed he could carry whatever he wanted onto his own aircraft - the only issue would be if the items were somehow restricted in his destination country but that would be a problem upon arrival not departure.

 

[markis10]

I've never been to Japan so can't comment on the airport facilities over there, but in the US most private aircraft operate either out of separate terminals to the commercial flights (there is a private terminal at LAX for instance) or, more typically, out of completely separate airports (in LA, Van Nuys is a popular one).

International departures from the US are organised by the charter company (or the people who look after all your affairs if you're rich enough to own the aircraft yourself) - in the 'olden days' the departure process was simply making sure that you gave up your green I-94 immigration card but I imagine these days there's some electronic equivalent.

Don't know about international arrivals into the US specifically other than you are of course subject to the normal customs and border controls.

When flying from a private terminal / airport there are certainly no TSA restrictions or other security inspections - indeed you do pull up in the car, walk across the tarmac and onto the aircraft.

If Steve was expecting to fly out of Japan from a private terminal then he'd no doubt have assumed he could carry whatever he wanted onto his own aircraft - the only issue would be if the items were somehow restricted in his destination country but that would be a problem upon arrival not departure.

Private flights are still required to comply with security rules (on a more relaxed basis) and customs rules, while the article does talk about hijacking I suspect the issue was more to do with prohibited imports/exports per se.

And Sam has been watching too many movies, my aircraft only see a hanger when they are getting pulled apart , my good friend Clive Palmers MD82's can often be seen sitting outside at OOL and BNE, now thats a biz jet (or two)

 

[samh004]

The incidents in the report have since been described as “pure fiction” by Apple.

Well, there was always the possibility the truth could get in the way of a good story