"Detroit airport wants feds to help buy $100 million bomb scanner"

Friday, February 25, 2005

Airport wants feds to help buy $100 million bomb scanner
By R.J. King
The Detroit (MI) News
 

ROMULUS -- Detroit Metropolitan Airport officials are seeking federal
funding to help build and operate a $100 million baggage screening system to
streamline searches for explosive devices in luggage. 

The explosive-detection system would replace several smaller, less advanced
systems at the airport's 3-year-old Midfield Terminal, which serves
Northwest Airlines and its affiliates. 

While hugely expensive -- its price tag is about a quarter the total cost of
the upcoming North Terminal -- it would provide a safety net that could help
alleviate fears following September 11 and speed the scanning of luggage for
35 million passengers each year. 

"It's a project we support and need," said Thomas Becher, a Northwest
spokesman. 

Frequent fliers said they would applaud a system that would eliminate
delays. 

"As long as we're safe and the bags are checked for explosives, I don't have
any problem with speeding the inspections up," said Canton Township resident
Steve Williams, who often flies out of Detroit Metro. 

The intelligence-reform bill President Bush signed last month called on the
Transportation Security Administration to expedite the installation of
advanced detection systems at airports nationwide. The federal government
has recently approved larger explosive detection systems at eight airports
around the country. 

Those airports include Boston Logan, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth
and Los Angeles. 

The TSA is working with major airports to install larger systems that can
handle luggage inspections more quickly during peak flying periods like the
Christmas holiday season, said spokesman Amy von Walter. 

Metro Airport, like other major airports, is planning to install a fully
automated inline detection system that sounds an alarm an explosive devise
or residues are detected. 

"Some (larger) airports have expressed an interest in installing inline
systems, and we are working on those requests," said von Walter, who
declined to say whether Detroit Metro would be approved for funding to build
the upgraded detection system. 

Under an initial rollout of funding for the in-line systems, the federal
government typically paid for 90 percent of the projects, with the airports
paying for the remainder. 

In recent months, however, TSA officials have indicated they may fund up to
75 percent of the inline systems, with the remaining costs coming from the
airports. 

Robinson said he expected the federal government would fund 90 percent of
Detroit Metro's request. An application was filed late last year. 

Several explosive detection devices, about the size of minivans and costing
$750,000 each, are already at the Midfield and Smith terminals at Detroit
Metro. They were installed in 2003 and scan all check-in luggage. Carry-on
bags are checked at security areas or scanned by the explosive screening
devices. 

Airport officials wouldn't say how many explosive screening systems are at
the airport, citing security reasons. An upgraded system that's designed to
process more luggage will be installed at the new North Terminal that's
expected to be built by late 2008. The North Terminal will replace the
airport's Smith and Berry terminals. 

"Our No. 1 concern is passenger safety, and we believe the new system will
improve the airport's efficiency without compromising safety," said Lester
W. Robinson, CEO of the Wayne County Airport Authority, which operates
Detroit Metro, the United States' ninth busiest airport and the 15th busiest
worldwide. 

The new screening system is expected to speed up baggage inspections, a
common complaint among passengers who say the added luggage scrutiny causes
delays. With the current screening, explosive residues sometimes are
detected on luggage as a result of a passenger's livelihood, such as a
construction worker who handles explosives, or medical condition, such as a
passenger who takes nitroglycerin. The new scanner will be able to detect
those kinds of situations and not set off alarms. 

Airport officials say they hope to build the new explosive detection system
on the north side of its Midfield Terminal's central link, which connects
ticketing and other services with Concourse A. The south side of its central
link is occupied by the Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport hotel.

Screening bags 

   . Explosive detection systems: Minivan-size machines that use radiation
to scan luggage.

   . Explosives Trace Detection: Security officers use swabs to rub areas of
a bag. Swabs are dropped into chemicals that identify possible explosives.

Source: Transportation Security Administration 


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************