Hazardous Materials Prohibitions and Security Awareness
Domain 6 covers what may not come aboard and how to react to something that looks wrong.
Forbidden materials
Hazardous materials are not carried in a passenger-carrying vehicle: gasoline, diesel in cans, propane cylinders, fireworks, corrosive or poisonous liquids, most compressed gases, and leaking batteries. Federal rules leave only narrow exceptions for small quantities of personal toiletries and medicines and for limited small-arms ammunition carried as checked baggage. Carrier policy and some state rules are stricter still. Never let a passenger stow a prohibited item in the baggage bay to be safe - the compartment is part of the vehicle.
Suspicious items and behavior
Warning signs: a bag left unattended, oily stains or odors, ticking, visible wires, excessive tape, an odd shape, protruding objects, or a passenger who leaves a package and hurries off. Do not touch, move, open, or cover it. Do not use a radio or cell phone close to a suspected device. Isolate the area, keep people back, and note the description and location.
Reporting
Notify dispatch and call 911; follow the carrier's security plan, then complete a written report. Watch boarding passengers without profiling or confronting anyone, and report unattended bags, strange questions about the vehicle, or attempts to reach restricted areas.
Worked example
A passenger boards with a full gallon can of gasoline for a generator. You refuse boarding and explain the federal prohibition; you do not put the can in the luggage bay and you do not allow it this once. The passenger travels without the can or not at all.
Traps
Accepting a camp-stove propane cylinder as camping gear; opening or sniffing a suspicious package; keying a radio beside a suspected device; accepting a sealed box on the passenger's word.