BWI to Test New Screening Devices

Technology Will Minimize Pat-Downs

Some passengers at Baltimore-Washington International Airport soon will be checked for weapons and explosives by two new machines aimed at minimizing the need for security screeners to conduct physical pat-downs.

The Transportation Security Administration plans to begin testing the two new machines by February or March. One, called a Trace Portal, shoots small puffs of air at passengers as they walk through it to detect any explosive residue on their clothing. Another machine, called the Backscatter, works as a kind of X-ray to reveal items hidden beneath travelers' clothing. Privacy groups criticized the machine for revealing too much of the body because it displays clear outlines of private areas.

TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said the Backscatter manufacturer has altered the software it uses so that passengers' private areas will not be exposed. "This new technology has been modified to inspect passengers for concealed weapons and explosives while respecting privacy," Clark said.

The machines will not be used on all passengers; only travelers selected for additional security screening at select checkpoints will be directed to use them, Clark said. She said BWI is likely to receive one of each machine, which will be tested for 30 to 60 days.

The test will be the first use of X-ray Backscatter technology for security screening. Most airports use the machines for law enforcement purposes, said Richard Mastronardi, vice president of strategic marketing and sales for American Science and Engineering, which manufactures the $100,000 product. He said the company took steps to resolve concerns about what body features the machines might show.

"We create an outline of the person and we superimpose the threat over it," Mastronardi said. "We diminish any details people had concerns about."

The TSA is looking to push new technologies into airport checkpoints after being criticized by members of Congress for moving too slowly. Some sophisticated explosive-detection technology has been available for years, but TSA has focused on hiring new federal airport screeners and installing machines to scan checked luggage first. The intelligence bill signed into law last month required the TSA to begin testing the new machines.

TSA began testing trace portals, which typically cost between $130,000 and $150,000 apiece, at a handful of airports last summer, and already thousands of passengers have passed through them.

BWI is one of 15 airports to participate in the testing of the machines. Other participating airports include Los Angeles; John F. Kennedy in New York; Jacksonville, Fla.; Boston; Chicago O'Hare; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Dallas-Fort Worth; Phoenix; Miami; Atlanta; San Francisco; Las Vegas; Kansas City; and Gulfport, Miss.