Logan tests device that sniffs out explosive liquids
Scanners won't end need for carry-on rules but will make skies safer, TSA says
Peter J. Howe, Boston Globe, 5/25/2007
Logan International Airport yesterday became one of six big US airports testing a new hand-held liquid-explosives detection scanning system.
For now, the scanning devices won't change any of the toughened restrictions on liquids in carry-on bags, said George N. Naccara, head of the Transportation Security Administration for the northeastern United States. Passengers at Logan and the five other airports will still have to follow the TSA's 3-1-1 rule: They can't bring containers of liquids or gels containing more than 3 ounces, whatever containers they bring must fit into a one-quart clear bag, and only one bag is allowed per passenger.
But Naccara is optimistic that the devices, made by Washington, D.C., homeland security and defense contractor ICX Technologies Inc., will make air travel safer and give passengers that much more faith in airport security.
"We're always looking to add new layers of security, and the results of our testing of them so far are so good that there's optimism the agency will purchase 200 of them this year and deploy them widely," Naccara said at Logan's international Terminal E during a demonstration of the devices.
Costing $20,000 to $25,000 each, the 4-pound, hand-held devices look a little like a store scanner. TSA screeners aim the tip of the device at containers carrying liquids and vapors are drawn in and analyzed for traces of explosive compounds. Within seconds a coded digital display indicates if the substance being tested is showing suspect concentrations of the compounds, which Naccara said he could not name for security reasons.
The TSA imposed the new carry-on restrictions in August after British security agents foiled an alleged plot by Islamic extremists to blow up 10 trans-Atlantic jets using improvised bombs mixed from liquids carried onto the planes.
Naccara said the first device will be used mainly in Terminal E at Logan, but if the TSA buys and deploys more as now envisioned, they would also be used at the three other terminals.
"It will not be used for everyone" passing through security right away, Naccara said, but only those selected for secondary screening or whose carry-ons or shoes trigger other explosive detection devices.
Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella said officials at the airport -- from which the two planes that brought down New York's World Trade Center towers took off on Sept. 11, 2001 -- are always eager to test new security technologies through a homeland security "center for excellence" set up by the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan.
The other five airports where the devices are being used are Detroit Metro Wayne County, McCarran International in Las Vegas, Los Angeles International, Miami International, and Newark Liberty International.