On August 13th, 2010, while boarding US Airways flight 1669 from Punta Cana to Charlotte we experienced the most embarrassing situation perpetrated by an employee of Ventura Security, a "security company" outsourced by US Airways to handle a second tier of security measures for passengers boarding a US flight to the mainland. I was traveling with six passengers, two of which were senior citizens, 86 and 88, on wheel chairs. After going to Customs (Agriculture) and the (Dominican Republic) main security check point, we sat for over 1 and a half hour at Gate 5 waiting for the final call to board US Airways 1669. Mr. Martinez, an employee of Swissport provided two wheel chairs and assisted my in-laws to be transported in the wheel chairs from Gate 5 to the tarmac and to board the plane. One of my in-laws a passenger of US Airways flight 1669 had been ill for two days. He had been treated for an intestinal problem and possible dehydration by Dr. Rodriguez at the Bahia Principe Hotel (verification of illness is available). Alerted to his condition Mr. Martinez, the Swissport employee, proceeded to move the whole family and the wheel chair occupants expeditiously through the last check point. He respectfully addressed an employee by the name Yafreisi Mendez (Ventura Security employee) that we were all traveling together and that one of the passengers was not feeling well. The response from this Ventura Company employee could be best described as boisterous and unfriendly response to Mr. Martinez and I quote: "you ought to do your job and let me do mine." At this juncture, she pointed out at my wife and told her that she needed to open her carry-on bag. My wife is a diabetic, had her insulin, a doctor's note and syringes left for her use in the plane. This brusque woman yelled loud in an aggressive tone in front of a whole crowd of passengers that she had too many syringes and that she could not proceed to board the plane. We asked her what particular protocol she was following since we have traveled with syringes without any problem through the entire planet. We also showed her the doctor’s note and the prescription which stated 5 syringes per day.
To no avail and for lack of any other explanation, this woman was in a "power frenzy" rush and made it impossible for my family members to proceed to board the plane. The two senior citizens were waiting outdoor for a period of 15-minutes under the scorching sun, waiting for her to give permission to board the plane. Be aware that Punta Cana's airport services are still “Spartan" and passengers must proceed through the tarmac, escorted by airport employees to walk through an inordinate number of aircraft that are parked outside.
Ms. Yafreisi Mendez claimed that she had called a manager whom later on I was informed was a security manager for Swissport by the name of Angelo Mercedes. Since all the passengers had boarded the plane and we had remained behind, we told her that she could have all the syringes and let us proceed to board the plane. To this she replied: "I am not finished" and told my wife that she needed to frisk her. She took her time to do this procedure and did it "twice". She also claimed that she would need to contact the pilot in order for us to board the plane. After some persuasion from another US Airways employee who was working at Gate 5 and with a degree of frustration, this US Airways employee told the security employee to keep the syringes and to let us proceed to the plane without further delays because all other passengers were already on board. She finally gave in and allowed us to proceed to the tarmac where the two senior passengers on wheel chairs had remained under the care of Mr. Martinez. We walked hastily to the end of the tarmac to board the plane.

While aboard I asked Mary Dell, one of the US Airways flight attendants, if I could speak to the Captain and relate to him that my wife was a diabetic and needed her syringes. Captain Gregg Heckrodt immediately responded left the cockpit, identified himself and approached me. Subsequently, I related to him the unfortunate incident that had just occurred. During our conversation he confirmed that he had never received any telephone call to authorize us to proceed to the plane or any request for syringes to be allowed for my wife's use. In summary, he was unaware of any incident that was purportedly reported by Ventura Security employee or manager. He was quite taken back when I related to him that the security person, Yafreisi Mendez's, had quoted a minimum number of syringes to be allowed in a plane. He was quite surprised because as a pilot, he had never heard of such rule.
Approximately after five minutes elapsed after boarding the plane, I was told that security personnel were coming to the plane. Soon after, Mr. Angelo Mercedes, a Swissport employee came in. He had the syringes in his hands and proceeded to look around and told the attendants that he was looking for two passengers in the plane. He did not know the name of the passengers and was scanning the crowd to find them (don’t know what criteria he was using?) At this point, I approached and told him that the syringes were mine. I also asked him that an apology was in place. He was quite cocky and told me that I could go ahead and complaint in a "mocking" way. I realized later that he was not a Ventura employee; however, under the circumstances he should have exhibited a more courteous and professional demeanor.
This has been quite an embarrassing situation for my wife and my whole family. The 1669 flight crowd was in a frenzy trying to understand what was going on and why we had been detained. Imagine this scenario, a passenger gets stop for carrying syringes and a whole family is detained at the gate. Rumors and comments were circulating in various languages!

This type of incident should have never occurred if proper training and protocol were followed. It was a pissing match between employees who wanted another employee to know that she had "the power". US Airways needs to investigate, put in place propel protocol, require Ventura Security employees or any other company which they have surrendered their passenger's security to be properly trained and to ensure that passengers are treated in the most basic respectful and humane way and that no one should be subjected to any form of embarrassment in front of the public.

I also have a few questions that need to be answered and require US Airways to respond in writing:
1. Under what authority has US Airways given to Ventura employees to physically detain passengers because one diabetic passenger had syringes in her possession for medical reasons?

2. What purpose does the Ventura Company provide for US Airways and how are their procedures consistent with ATA or Homeland Security guidelines?

3. If passengers have gone through a check point by Dominican Republic employees at a security point, what power does Ventura Security employees have under Dominican law/statutes or a proxy by US entities to detain passengers?

4. If this is the company that handles US Airways Security issues in a foreign land, I am quite appalled and also apprehensive about the US Airways ability to handle a "real security" bridge or major security incident involving US nationals in a foreign country.

Attentively yours,
Dr. Pedro L. Martinez