SALT LAKE CITY?To the distress of speedskaters, they may no longer take their skate blades aboard airliners as carryon luggage.

?They just don?t want any sharp objects getting on board aircraft,? said Bill Brusik, supervisor of the Salt Lake Federal Aviation Administration security office. ?These blades are about 24 inches long, and they?re real sharp.?

Skaters must now pack the blades in their checked bags. This means they might lose them or the fragile blades, painstakingly honed to the thousandth of an inch with exactly the right bend and rocker, could be damaged.