An Indiana man is demanding a direct apology from a Transportation Security Administration agent in Florida who, the man says, spilled his grandfather's ashes during an airport bag check -- and then laughed off the incident.

And John Gross is also demanding that the TSA release any security surveillance tapes of the incident -- tapes that the federal agency claims simply don't exist.

Gross, 30, was returning home from visiting family in Orlando, Florida, on June 19, carrying with him a portion of his grandfather's ashes that had been passed along by an uncle -- a "real sentimental kind of guy," says Gross -- when he approached TSA screeners. A female agent wearing blue latex gloves inspected the contents of his bag, says Gross, including the jar clearly labeled "Human Remains."

"I said, 'Please be careful, these are my grandpa's ashes,'" Gross told CNN Wednesday. But, he said, the agent proceeded to stick her finger in the jar then accidentally spilled its contents on the airport floor.

She then laughed, according to Gross -- not an uproarious cackle, but a chuckle that he found offensive nonetheless.

"She thought it was funny," he said. "I wanted to smack her."

While not directly contradicting Gross, the TSA said it believes his sequence of events is incorrect.

"Our initial review concluded that the circumstances as described in some reports are inconsistent with what we believe transpired," an initial statement from the TSA said.

That pronouncement prompted Gross, who said he would otherwise be content to drop his contention, to once again assail the agency.

"I don't want this to continue," he said Wednesday in an interview with CNN, but "now I'm really heated because the TSA is coming back and saying there's inconsistencies in the reports."

The TSA statement added that "under no circumstances should a container holding remains be opened."

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-06-28/travel/travel_spilled-ashes_1_tsa-gross-security-cameras?_s=PM:TRAVEL





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxG4L84YRL4