The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) claims to have met its extended deadline to screen all checked-in baggage for explosives by the end of 2002, but several US airports are still using rudimentary methods for screening.
Under US law, the nation's 429 commercial airports must have begun screening 100% of checked baggage using high-technology equipment such as explosives detection system (EDS) and explosive trace detection (ETD) machines by 31 December, unless they received a one-year waiver from the TSA. Aware that installing large EDS equipment was posing enormous logistical problems for many airports, Congress agreed to allow the waivers when it passed new homeland security legislation in November.
Airports that have been granted extensions are screening all checked-in baggage by using a combination of "interim" methods, namely sniffer dog teams, hand searches and passenger "bag matching" (baggage reconciliation). Transport under-secretary for security James Loy refuses to divulge how many waivers have been issued, citing security concerns. As many as 40 airports are believed to have applied, however.
"The simple result is that all checked baggage will be screened before it goes on an aircraft," says the TSA. "Before 11 September 2001, only 5% of [checked-in] bags were being [security] checked. By midnight Tuesday [31 December], all bags will be checked, with over 90% of bags being checked electronically."
Loy expects all US airports to be in full compliance with the EDS rule by no later than the end of 2003.
Source: Flight International