TSA Modes: Aviation
The visible and behind-the-scenes layers that support security in commercial aviation.
24 films · six collections
Voices from
the archive.
The original experience hid these films inside panoramic hotspots. Here they become a visible collection—organized by subject and playable in a consistent, keyboard-accessible viewer.
The films are preserved from the archived experience and may describe programs as they existed when produced. Captions are controlled by the source player where available.
Collection 01 · Transportation modes
One network, different operating worlds.
Four short films introduce the ways security changes across aviation and surface transportation.
TSA Modes: Mass Transit
How an open, locally operated passenger network requires a different security model.
TSA Modes: Freight
Security and resilience across the movement of essential cargo and materials.
Pipelines & Maritime
Distributed energy infrastructure and the complex connections found at ports.
Collection 02 · Memory
A public institution remembers why it exists.
These films document the exhibition, the attacks of September 11, and reflections gathered for the twentieth anniversary.
Mission Hall Walk Through
A filmed journey through the physical exhibition and its major interpretive sections.
As Events Unfold
An archival account of the events that led to the creation of TSA.
9/11/21 Ceremony Highlights
Highlights from TSA’s twentieth-anniversary remembrance.
Reflections of 9/11
Personal reflection on loss, service, and the responsibility to remember.
Collection 03 · Building the agency
From mandate to mission.
Eight films follow the early workforce, agency development, partnerships, action, and institutional culture.
Meeting the Mission
An overview of how people and programs connect to a shared purpose.
20th Anniversary Opening
An anniversary introduction to the agency’s history and workforce.
Accelerating Action
How an agency organizes to turn strategy into work.
Empowering Our People
Training, trust, responsibility, and a workforce equipped to adapt.
TSA Stakeholders
Security as a partnership across agencies, operators, industries, and communities.
10 Years of TSA
A retrospective produced at the end of the agency’s first decade.
Call to Action
A message about responsibility, participation, and the work ahead.
The First 300
The story of the first federal screeners who helped build a national workforce.
Collection 04 · Workforce portraits
Six roles, six views of service.
Short portraits move the story from organizational charts to the people who perform the work.
Field Intelligence Officer
Connecting information and analysis with field decisions.
Federal Security Director
Leading people, operations, technology, and partnerships at an airport.
Explosives Detection Canine Handler
A working partnership built on training, attention, and trust.
Transportation Security Officer
The daily public-facing work of passenger and baggage screening.
VIPR Team
Specialists working together across transportation modes.
Passenger Support Specialist
Helping travelers with disabilities, medical conditions, and other needs navigate screening.
Collection 05 · Long view
Timeline and technology.
Two films gather the broader institutional history into a continuous account.
TSA Timeline
A continuous historical overview assembled for the Mission Hall experience.
Evolution of Technology
A film about the agency’s changing tools and screening capabilities.
Accessibility note
Every film card includes a descriptive summary so the archive remains navigable without playback. The Vimeo player exposes its own keyboard controls and any captions supplied with the original video. Captions and transcripts have not been independently verified for every preserved film; where a complete transcript is required, the readable text-and-photo path provides the main historical narrative without relying on video.