Lisa Wilkinson has come forward with her “inappropriate” airport security pat down story, but she doesn’t seem to understand the bigger problem at play.

One of the most embarrassing public moments I’ve had was when I set the airport security buzzer off with my choice of bra.

As I waltzed through the metal detector at Sydney airport a few years ago, the machine didn’t appear to agree with my undergarment which had some chain detailing.

I had to remove my jacket, wearing just a singlet underneath, and the male member of security pat down my chest to ensure there was nothing untoward going on.

As it turns out, Australian TV veteran Lisa Wilkinson has also succumbed to such measures, making headlines today for describing her several “uncomfortable” encounters with airport security.

The Sunday Project co-host was responding to a tweet from Four Corners journalist Louise Milligan, who detailed her “creepy” experience when she was forced take off her ”fitted business jacket” wearing nothing but a little camisole underneath.

Wilkinson then detailed her own experiences at Brisbane and Adelaide airports, in which she had a “full pat-down” of her bra area and the “zip” on her jeans.

She added the full-body scan machines were “a real issue” and “should be fixed.”

These new full-body scan machines are a real issue @Milliganreports. At @BrisbaneAirport & @AdelaideAirport the scan showed up the underwire in my bra & zip on my jeans & I had to have a full pat-down in both areas. Embarrassing, uncomfortable, inappropriate & should be fixed. https://t.co/sw1niYp5ud

Countless women responded to the Twitter thread saying they often felt violated by security staff, and that common sense risk assessment wasn’t being considered when such measures were taken.

While I agree that pat downs can be awkward, the veiled perverse suggestion being thrown around seems a little off when there’s potentially fatal risks at play if the job isn’t done properly.

I was once on a plane with a man who was clearly drunk, and while he wasn’t hurting anyone, his brash behaviour toward airline staff and passengers was enough to understand just how scary it would be if something untoward happened on-board a flight.

On the more extreme side of things, just five years ago in Australia a terror plan was foiled at the last minute when five men attempted to take a bomb hidden inside a Barbie doll and a meat grinder on a plane from Sydney to Abu-Dhabi.

The plan was allegedly only thwarted after the luggage containing the devices was deemed overweight.

And do I dare mention one of the most catastrophic aviation incidents in history?

Several of the al-Qaeda linked terrorists who hijacked four commercial planes on September 11, 2001, exploited relaxed security measures and were able to breeze through checkpoints with knives and box cutters – the very implements they wielded to commandeer those planes into World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing almost 3000 people.

I wonder if victims of this atrocity wish such rigorous pat down measures were performed on that fateful day?

Or do you think they would feel it best the zippers on their jeans weren’t investigated?

The very real threat of terrorism, not to mention countless other potential crimes that could unfold on-board where there are hundreds of people at risk, outweighs how ‘comfortable’ one feels during a brief encounter with airport security.

I’m not exactly comfortable at the gynaecologist but hey, some things are for the greater good.

I have no doubt there are some isolated incidents involving people exploiting their position. It’s fair to think not everyone operates as professionally as we’d like to believe.

But if security were to assume every bra strap was probably just a bra strap, that would be negligent and dangerous.

The next time you succumb to the dreaded airport pat down, perhaps try to consider that more times than not, it isn’t about embarrassing you or violating your basic rights, it’s about keeping you – and others – safe from harm.

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