Denver Woman Not Allowed to Fly Because There Was No Female TSA Agent to Pat Her Down

When Jennifer Winning arrived at the small airport in Rock Spring, Wyoming, she didn't expect she'd be turned away. But that's exactly what happened earlier this moth. And if that wasn't frustrating enough, it's the reason why that really has her scratching her head: there wasn't a female TSA on duty to giver her an enhanced pat down.

“They asked if I was on the flight to Denver, I said yes, they said that they couldn`t screen me because they sent all the female TSA agents home,” Winning told KDVR-TV.

She said she even offered to sign a waiver allowing a male agent to pat her down, but the TSA declined.

That left her asking the question many more are echoing: “If you can’t clear it without a female, why would you send them home?”

The TSA, however, is blaming the airline and Winning. It claims the airline wasn't supposed to accept any more passengers, and it was Winning, not the TSA, that eventually turned her away.

Here's its statement to KDVR:

“In small airports, TSA works closely with the airlines and airport to keep the security checkpoints open to ensure that all passengers are screened appropriately.

Once TSA is informed by the airline that our screening services are no longer needed, the security checkpoint is closed. In this instance, SkyWest made final boarding announcements and notified TSA that no additional passengers would be accepted.

In addition, a TSA officer also made two public announcements asking any remaining passengers to report to the security checkpoint for screening.

After both the flight and checkpoint were closed, a female passenger requested screening. While there were no female officers present at the time, ultimately the passenger was not screened by TSA because the airline was no longer accepting passengers for the flight.”