WHY TSA SHOULD GO AHEAD WITH ITS RELAXATION OF POCKET-KNIFE RULES: Asiana Passengers Almost Burned To Death Waiting For Box Cutters. “Reports indicate that passengers aboard crashed Asiana Flight 214 were trapped by their seatbelts while the Boeing 777 burned around them. If only someone had a knife to cut them free, even a small pocketknife. . . . But nobody had any kind of knife, because knives aren’t allowed on flights that land or originate in the United States.” A pocketknife is a tool, and can be lifesaving.
UPDATE: Until the TSA wises up, one of the commenters says that you can carry the Res-Q-Me keychain on planes, and it has a seatbelt-cutter. Anybody know more about this?