Tuesday, December 28th 2010, 10:56 pm
Rusty Surette, News 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The woman who made national headlines for her near-naked protest at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers airport was once again banned from flying, but she managed to make a Wednesday morning flight.
The Oklahoma native was on her way home to Phoenix in November when she decided to go through airport security at Will Rogers wearing just her bra and panties. A YouTube video of the incident put Tammy Banovac in the national spotlight. Banovac said the stunt was her way of protesting new security rules at airports nationwide. At that time security wouldn't allow her to board her flight because they found a trace of nitrate residue somewhere on her body.
Banovac was back at the Will Rogers Airport Tuesday and once again, security said she couldn't fly back home to Phoenix. Banovac was briefly visiting Oklahoma for Christmas, but security told the 52-year-old she wouldn't be allowed to board her flight. This time TSA agents told her something near her 'bottom' raised a red-flag.
"I guess they're concerned that I'm a legitimate danger and they're worried that I could be a terrorist," said Banovac. "They said they were unable to clear an unusual contour of my buttocks area, but I have nothing back there. I'm hiding nothing."
Banovac, who kept her clothes on this time, said she even offered to strip for security to prove there's nothing there, but a spokeswoman for the Will Rogers World Airport said TSA agents aren't allowed to remove clothing from an individual, and unless the issue can be resolved some other way, a person deemed suspicious or alarming isn't allowed to board a flight.
"This is the most ridiculous sky security theatrics imaginable," said Banovac.
Banovac slept at the airport Tuesday night. She made it through airport security Wednesday morning and boarded her 7:10 a.m. flight home. She told us the video on YouTube has made her life miserable and she's often recognized at most airports she visits.
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