From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Tracking: Machines to Check Airline Bags Mostly Idle, Report Says Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 08:03:44 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/unused-bomb-detectors.html October 11, 1998 Machines to Check Airline Bags Mostly Idle, Report Says By MATTHEW L. WALD WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration has spent more than $122 million on machines to detect bombs in checked baggage, but those machines that have been installed sit idle for most of the day, according to investigators from the Department of Transportation. The machines, which cost $1.3 million each to buy and install, are supposed to be capable of handling 225 bags an hour, but of 13 that were audited by investigators, nine handled fewer than 200 bags a day, according to a report released on Friday. Some got so little use that the operators could not maintain proficiency in running them, investigators said. "At some airports, they're sitting relatively unused," Lawrence Weintrob, an assistant inspector general of the Transportation Department, said in a telephone interview. "Some airports that are using them are using them rarely, or process relatively few bags through them." But Cathal Flynn, assistant administrator of the FAA for civil aviation security, said the average number of bags processed through each machine was rising sharply as airlines gained experience. Flynn and airline representatives said that part of the problem was that the computerized system for choosing which passengers' bags get scanned was still developing, and would not be fully implemented until the end of the year. "We haven't ironed out all the kinks in the process," said Susan Rork, managing director of security at the Air Transport Association, the trade group of the major airlines. The computerized system singles out individuals about whom there is too little information to conclude that they are not a threat, officials say. It also draws a sample from the group judged not to be a threat, to increase the chance that a terrorist would be caught, and to make the system fairer, Flynn said. One problem, he said, is that if the system were changed to require that a larger number of passengers have their bags scrutinized, then at peak periods people would be delayed so long they would miss their flights. "If you get people fuming at a line, that's not good either," Flynn said. That, he said, would probably discourage machine operators from doing their jobs right. And delays, he said, would damage public acceptance of security measures. In written comments responding to the report, the FAA said that the agency would "pursue a more coherent strategy with air carriers to ramp-up to a higher level of use." However, the agency said, it would be "many years" before technology allowed screening of all bags. Auditors also said that the machines in use could handle only about half as many bags as they did in lab tests, partly because they sound false alarms far more when in use at airports. Each false alarm requires time to resolve. (All alarms so far have been false, officials said, because no bombs have been detected.) The machines' higher false alarm rate is "probably a reason why they don't use it as often as they should," Weintrob said. Fifty-nine of the machines have been installed so far; plans are to have 74 in place by the end of the year, he said. Officials of airports where the machines are installed declined to comment and asked not to be identified. Under FAA rules, airport operators are responsible for various aspects of security, but not for screening bags. That responsibility falls to the airlines. Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************