Airport security checks miss many weapons
Undercover tests showed that the inspection carried out at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) could not quickly detect a weapon that a passenger is trying to hide.
The findings were passed to Congress, and parliamentarians called them “alarming,” reports NBC News.
Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Internal Security were provided with detailed information on the vulnerabilities of the TSA security audit system.
The meeting at which the details of the vulnerability were voiced was closed, but congressional sources noted that the degree of vulnerability of the verification system is “very high”.
Parliamentarians intend to increase funding for the development of new technology audits.
The TSA said that they had held a closed briefing with employees at which they discussed the results of secret testing.
In 2015, TSA’s head Melvin Karrawei was removed from his post after an internal investigation by the Department of National Security found omissions in detecting dangerous items in baggage at dozens of the busiest airports in the country.
During the study in 2015, 95% of test items were not detected at the control. Undercover researchers were able to carry weapons, fake explosives and other illegal items into the aircraft through dozens of checkpoints at various airports.
Acting TSA head David Pecoske told members of Congress that the Administration is developing two new bag scanning systems using computed tomography, which will increase TSA's effectiveness in identifying suspicious substances. According to him, the new devices will be a "significant improvement" compared with the devices that are used for checks at airports now.
Prior to this, such devices were used to check checked baggage, not for checkpoints, since they were too bulky and heavy for this purpose. But now they will be improved.
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