Transportation Security Administration GuidelinesĪs stated above, there is no limit to the amount of liquids, gels, and aerosols you can have in your checked luggage. However, your carry-on bags may only contain up to 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters of these items. So, you should know that there is no limit on how much liquid you can put in your checked bags. But it would be extremely difficult to detect in a 1 liter or larger container, unless you really slowed down the security line for a much more intensive scan.When you’re flying, it can be hard to remember all of the rules associated with checked bags, especially when it comes to objects like liquids, gels, and aerosols. I’m not a chemist or physicist, but it was explained this way to me:Ĭould you find a single clear glass bead in a 100ml container? Pretty easily. Assuming everything is working correctly, you couldn’t, for example, sneak anything in using 5 100ml containers, but you easily could using a single 500ml container. I have witnessed tests of security scans and you can definitely sneak harmful substances through in 1/2-liter containers, but it’s nearly impossible in 100 ml containers.
100ml is a nice, round number chosen for its simplicity… it’s not likely to be confusing to anyone. There is a limit at which a container can be effectively scanned for harmful substances. Hachi Ko, Pilot (ATP) & Air Traffic Controller (FAA Terminal ATC-12). In bigger bottles you can disguise the liquid by filling the bottle with some other substance and making a cavity in between for the liquid. It's about the size of the bottles in which you carry it.Įdit 1 : In addition, it is easier to scan what kind of liquid you are carrying in 100 ml bottles. So, it is not about the quantity of liquid you carry. Now even if they carry liquid A in 10 bottles and B in another 10 bottles of 100 ml, it would be very difficult to mix the liquids together in precise amounts to make the bomb on board. The quantity is restricted to no of bottles that can fill up a 1 Litre zipper bag. You are allowed to carry liquids in transparent 100 ml bottles. Since a liquid bomb is very unstable in final form, they would plan to mix the liquid (say A) with another liquid or reagents(say B) on board to make the liquid bomb. Let us consider that a group of terrorists plan to detonate a liquid bomb in the aircraft. It's about the size of the bottle in which you carry it.
It is not about the quantity of liquid you carry. Why am I allowed to pass airport security with 3 bottles of 100ml liquid but not with one bottle of 300ml? answers your question. The answer also can't be "Because TSA needs concrete, simple rules", since it would be simpler to just say "Whatever liquids you can fit into a 1-quart baggie" (i.e. It can't be "Because, separately, they don't pose a threat" because one could mix them in any of the large empty containers they can bring through. The answer cannot be "Because 100ml of some explosive/corrosive liquid is not enough to harm the aircraft" because, from above, you can bring aboard probably 400-500ml of it in separate 100ml bottles in the same 1-quart bag.
What is the rationale for letting me bring a bag of, say, four 100ml bottles of something but not one 400ml bottle? My confusion is this: If I can put the same liquid in each 100ml container, then the 100ml isn't a limit in any meaningful way the 1-quart bag is. According to the TSA's 3-1-1 rule, you can bring (in your carry-on baggage) as many 100ml containers of liquid that you can fit into a 1-quart (20mmX20mm) bag. Yes, this is similar to another question, but, judging from the answers, maybe the OP wasn't clear enough in their question.