Total passenger aircraft cargo screening to take two years: TSA

THE acting head of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said she had little confidence that 100 per screening of air cargo on passenger planes mandated by the Homeland Security Department come about before two years.

Addressing the congressional House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, TSA acting director Gale Rossides said the agency might be able to ensure that 65 per cent of cargo on international flights is screened.

But she did say her group would meet the deadline for screening all cargo aboard passenger flights originating inside the United States, reported Global Security Newswire.

The biggest challenge, she said, is getting co-operation from the governments of 20 countries where nearly 85 per cent of all cargo comes from.

Ms Rossides said the TSA has determined that whole-body imaging machines offer "a significantly greater" capability and are more effective and efficient than having airport screeners physically pat down passengers. But she acknowledged that the machines would not detect explosives carried inside someone's body.

TSA does not expect that using the machines will increase wait times at airport checkpoints, she said, adding that the agency bought 150 whole-body imaging machines last fall, but none are in service yet. The department plans to announce that 11 airports will receive machines in coming weeks, she said.

(Source: www.schednet.com)