"Airport Security Devices Facing Scrutiny"

Sunday, February 17, 2002

Airport Devices Facing Scrutiny
Newsday (NY)


The federal government is considering buying portable explosive-
detection machines to meet a congressional deadline to screen all
checked bags for bombs by the end of the year - a move that could make
it easier to meet the deadline but prompts warnings from security
experts that the machines might not be used correctly.

Nearly a billion pieces of luggage are checked onto commercial aircraft
at U.S. airports every year. By Dec. 31, the federal government has
pledged that it will have in place a system to screen every bag for
explosives.

It was assumed that the deadline would be met with explosive- detection
machines such as the CTX models currently deployed at 52 of the nation's
biggest airports. But several obstacles have arisen.

For one thing, there are logistical problems. The CTX machines use
computer tomography similar to a medical CAT scan to look inside the
bags and point to items that have the density to be explosives. But they
weigh several tons; the largest and fastest model is the size of a
minivan. Federal officials have had to discuss whether they would need
to knock out walls at airport terminals and strengthen floors.

At Dulles Airport in Washington, preliminary studies have shown that
several dozen of the machines would be needed to screen all the checked
baggages, and putting them all into the lobby would leave no room for
the lines of passengers. A consultant hired by the U.S. Department of
Transportation even looked into scenarios such as checking luggages in a
remote location in an airport parking lot.

More importantly, there are questions as to whether the two
manufacturers can make enough machines in time, despite plans to ramp up
production. Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead
told Congress this month the government will need more than 2,000
additional machines. Currently, about 160 are deployed at U.S. airports.

Mead said a consultant hired by the DOT had recommended using a
combination of the bulkier machines and portable trace-detection
machines, which are widely used at carry-on baggage checkpoints. An
operator swabs a surface of the item being tested, and a computer
determines whether the sample contains explosives. The more portable
machines would take up less space in airport lobbies.

But Billie Vincent, a security consultant and former security director
for the FAA, cautioned that the trace detector should only be used on
bags that have been opened - a process that would be time- consuming and
cumbersome for checked bags.

"Using those machines on a closed bag is a no-no," he said. "The FAA
security people know that." Vincent said tests have shown that the
machine can't reliably detect explosives on a closed bag.

The Transportation Security Administration, the agency that is taking
over security from the airlines, won't say how the trace detector might
be used. But officials said last week that the machines are being used
in a test at the Salt Lake City Airport in Utah.. "We're learning a lot
about it," said John Magaw, head of the administration. "It is going to
be a valuable part of our examination system." 

In the meantime, the agency has not yet put in orders for additional
explosive-detection machines, regardless of whether they are
supplemented by the trace-detector machines.


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