New bomb check device for US airports
17.06.05
A new high-tech explosives detector is to be introduced in US airports in a move expected to reduce the time passengers spend waiting for security checks. After a successful trial, 162 trace detection machines will be installed at the 40 busiest airports in America, US transport safety officials announced yesterday.
The machines, known as puffers, blast passengers with compressed air and then analyse any dislodged particles. Passengers selected for screening enter a 'portal', where several puffs of air are directed at them. Displaced particles floating in the air are then analysed by machine, before a computerised voice and a green light tells the passenger when they can move on.
Airport security across the US was stepped up after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, with the number of passengers frisked rocketed, and is now thought to be over 250,000 each day. The machines, which cost $140,000 (£74,000) each, are designed to replace the lengthy searches carried out on about 15% of airline passengers.
Machines have been installed in 14 big city airports, such as Miami International, since September 2004 as part of a trial. Those machines will now stay in place, and another 44 will be added in another 10 airports.
