The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently deployed a 3-D imaging scanner at a security checkpoint in Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to combat explosives smuggling.
“TSA is committed in getting the best technology to enhance security and improve the screening experience. Use of CT technology substantially improves TSA’s threat detection capability at the checkpoint,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said.
The technology is known as computed tomography (CT). According to Scott Johnson, TSA’s federal security director at IAD, it is the most consequential technology presently offered to airport checkpoints across the world. For the TSA’s part, they will be testing the system’s algorithms for explosives detection at one checkpoint lane in the airport presently.
The system, in theory, should result in fewer bag checks, and passengers utilizing it will not even need to remove their laptops or liquids from carry-on bags. It generates clear images of bags’ contents, automatically detects explosives through the use of an X-ray camera in three-dimensional views, and flags for further screening by TSA officers.
While it is a new service for the IAD, TSA is already planning to have as many as 40 units in place at airports throughout the United States by the end of the year, and more than 145 by the end of 2019.