The greatest danger of flying today is that when you enter the airport security screening area, you might suddenly find yourself in the Twilight Zone. Consider what happened to soldiers of the 48th Brigade when they got on a plane in Atlanta to leave for Iraq:

[Lt. Col. John] King, who in civilian life is the Doraville police chief, rolled his eyes at the FAA regulation that requires soldiers — all of whom were armed with an arsenal of assault rifles, shotguns and pistols — to surrender pocket knives, nose hair scissors and cigarette lighters.

“If you have any of those things,” he said, almost apologetically, “put them in this box now.” — The 48th Goes to War

Bruce Schneier, author of Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World, comments that it is “surreal,” and I think that sums it up nicely.