Airport Passenger Screening

This book addresses new technologies being considered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for screening airport passengers for concealed weapons and explosives. The FAA is supporting the development of promising new technologies that can reveal the presence not only of metal-based weapons as with current screening technologies, but also detect plastic explosives and other non-metallic threat materials and objects, and is concerned that these new technologies may not be appropriate for use in airports for other than technical reasons. This book presents discussion of the health, legal, and public acceptance issues that are likely to be raised regarding implementation of improvements in the current electromagnetic screening technologies, implementation of screening systems that detect traces of explosive materials on passengers, and implementation of systems that generate images of passengers beneath their clothes for analysis by human screeners.

Airport Security by Dr. Stacey L. Tyler Airport Security: Passenger Screening and Governance Post 9/11 provides knowledge of governance, terrorism, security, and democratic principles in the passenger screening processes by the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, and air carriers. This book identifies the inadequate security measure designs, resulting from legislation, implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These security measures impose risk to our passengers daily as their principle provider of airport screening services. The author has over 20 years of professional experience in the airline industry. She started as a Ticketing Agent and progressed to General Manager for various airlines and vendor services. The truth is, despite current best practices and policies, dangerous items, and contraband continue to find its way past the screening areas of many airports and into secure areas. As a New Jersey Women Owned Small Business and Women-Owned Minority Business entrepreneur, The Interactive Intelligence Corporation is dedicated to assisting policy makers, administrators, and airport and airline management with examining and preventing the exploitation of weaknesses in the current system, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness in identifying and responding to emerging threats, and producing greater public satisfaction.

The Transportation Security Administration requested a study by the National Research Council (NRC) to establish the Committee on Airport Passenger Screening: Millimeter Wave Machines to evaluate two models of active millimeter wave scanners: the L3 ProVision 1 and L3 ProVision 2. Airport Passenger Screening Using Millimeter Wave Machines provides findings and recommendations on compliance with applicable health and safety guidelines and appropriateness of system design and procedures for preventing over exposure. This study addresses the issue of whether millimeter wave machines used at airports comply with existing guidelines and whether it would be possible for anything to go wrong with the machines so that, by mistake, it exposes a person to more than 10 W/m2.

Passenger screening at commercial airports in the United States has gone through significant changes since the events of September 11, 2001. In response to increased concern over terrorist attacks on aircrafts, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed security systems of advanced imaging technology (AIT) to screen passengers at airports. To date (December 2014), TSA has deployed AITs in U.S. airports of two different technologies that use different types of radiation to detect threats: millimeter wave and X-ray backscatter AIT systems. X-ray backscatter AITs were deployed in U.S. airports in 2008 and subsequently removed from all airports by June 2013 due to privacy concerns. TSA is looking to deploy a second-generation X-ray backscatter AIT equipped with privacy software to eliminate production of an image of the person being screened in order to alleviate these concerns. This report reviews previous studies as well as current processes used by the Department of Homeland Security and equipment manufacturers to estimate radiation exposures resulting from backscatter X-ray advanced imaging technology system use in screening air travelers. Airport Passenger Screening Using Backscatter X-Ray Machines examines whether exposures comply with applicable health and safety standards for public and occupational exposures to ionizing radiation and whether system design, operating procedures, and maintenance procedures are appropriate to prevent over exposures of travelers and operators to ionizing radiation. This study aims to address concerns about exposure to radiation from X-ray backscatter AITs raised by Congress, individuals within the scientific community, and others.

Protection of the traveling public from terrorist threats involving explosives is a major goal of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). For 20 years, the TSA (and the Federal Aviation Administration before it) have been investing in technologies to meet that goal. To support that activity, the TSA has asked the NRC to assess a variety of technological opportunities for offering such protection. The NRC is approaching this assignment by issuing a series of reports on chosen technology applications. This is the first of that series and presents an assessment of mass spectrometry for enhanced trace detection (ETD) of chemicals contained in explosives. The report describes limitations of trace detection in general and the current technologies in particular. It then presents a discussion of the potential for mass spectrometry to improve EDT including challenges faced by such a system, recommendations for starting a program to take advantage of mass spectrometry, and recommendations for a phased implementation plan.

Handbook of Checked Baggage Screening – Advanced Airport Security Operation is a practical guide for project managers and designers embarking on hold-baggage screening developments within the airport environment for the first time. The book clearly explains away any uncertainty about the processes and procedures to be used by the various parties involved within the industry and sets out ‘best practice’ with respect to checked baggage screening design. Valuable lessons can be learned from actual case studies contributed by leading equipment manufacturers on recent 100% hold baggage screening projects. In addition to the all-important security screening of baggage and passengers the book also looks at the following areas associated with airport security, through the use of a detailed structured security check-list evaluation questionnaire. The questionnaire allows airports to assess the state of readiness of their airports and then, using the other chapters, gain an insight regarding which technology will best solve any security gaps. The authors offer a unique perspective through their background and experience. Many of the checked baggage screening procedures and equipment discussed in the book have already been implemented in the UK, with the authors responsible for leading this effort. The combined experience they can offer to the industry world wide is invaluable.

This report offers suggestions for improving the screening process at U.S. airports, both near term and longer term. The short-term crisis, in which the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is faced with an enormous hiring and training burden by November 19, 2002, provides a good opportunity for Congress to fine-tune the pilot program for opting out of TSA-provided screening. Possible changes to the pilot program include: 1) Expanding its size to 40+ airports (rather than five); 2) Directing the TSA to encourage large and medium hub airports to apply for the expanded opt-out program; 3) Extending the scope of the opt-out to include baggage screening as well as passenger screening, to further alleviate the TSA's hiring burden; 4) Allowing airport operators, rather than the TSA, to be the contracting party in hiring qualified private screening companies (QPSCs); 5) Permitting airport operators in the opt-out program to hire and train their own screening employees; 6) Modifying the requirements for QPSCs to permit foreign ownership by nationals of nations that are close allies in the war on terrorism; 7) Ensuring that the TSA provides rigorous performance monitoring of all screening operations, by both federal workforces and those of QPSCs; 8) Extending the date for both federalized and new contracted screening workforces to provide sufficient time for airports and the TSA to arrange for contract screening at a larger number of opt-out airports.-- P. 16-17.