by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:04 AM ET, Mon August 24, 2020
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced it had collected $926,030.44 in unclaimed money left behind by passengers at checkpoints in the Fiscal Year 2019.
According to TSA officials, the top airport where passengers left the most money behind was New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, which claimed $98,110 in found income.
Rounding out the top five airports finding the most abandoned money was San Francisco International Airport ($52,668.70), Miami International Airport ($47,694.03), McCarran International Airport ($44,401.76) and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ($40,218.19).
As for what happens to the unclaimed cash, the TSA deposits the funds into a special account that assists in providing critical aviation security programs. Travelers who lose items can contact any of the TSA's lost and found offices at airports across the country to identify them.
The amount found during Fiscal Year 2019 marked a decrease in the amount of unclaimed money collected in the previous year, when $960,105.49 was left behind.
In recent weeks, the TSA has also reported a bizarre increase in the number of firearms being seized from carry-on bags at airport checkpoints, with guns being confiscated at a rate of three times higher than before the pandemic-and 80 percent of those guns are loaded.
On a more positive note, agency officials asked travelers to help determine a winner in the TSA Cutest Canine Contest to celebrate National Dog Day on August 26.
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