The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out a pricey technology at select airports nationwide that the agency hopes will make bag checks, including forcing passengers to remove liquids and electronics from luggage, a thing of the past.
The agency, part of the Homeland Security Department, announced Monday afternoon it will place 3-D scanners at 15 of the country’s highest-traffic airports to see how the new machines, known as computed tomography scanners, identify explosives and reduce wait times.
When an item passes through the machine, a 3D image of that object is generated on a screen that can be rotated around by an agent.
[Also read: TSA collecting info on regular travelers through ‘Quiet Skies’ program: Report]
Each machine costs upwards of $350,000 and the agency is working with companies on pricing and models, a TSA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the new technology, though still in a test phase, “substantially improves” agents ability to identify unsafe items while people go through security.
In a statement, TSA said the new airport security checkpoint systems “should result in fewer bag checks,” as well as passengers being “able to leave laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags” in the future if the tests go well.
TSA, tasked with inspecting all airplane passengers prior to their departure from U.S. airports, expects to have as many as 40 units installed by the end of the year and 145 added by the end of 2019.
The first imaging machines were set up at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Boston’s Logan International Airport in 2017. John F. Kennedy International Airport had one installed last week.
Other participating airports include Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Indianapolis International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, McCarran International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, San Diego International Airport, St. Louis Lambert International Airport, and Washington-Dulles International Airport.
