Think Again. TSA Is Taking Random Explosive Swabs From Passengers

Whew! You've made it through security ... put your belt and shoes back on, re-packed your laptop, checked the bin to be sure you weren't leaving your wallet, watch, spare change or phone ... you think you can now go quietly to your gate to be boarded onto an overbooked aircraft in an hour or so. Well, maybe not so much. Saying the current technology is unable to spot the kinds of explosives allegedly used by Farouk Abdulmutallab in an attempt to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day, TSA has been testing a program in five airports in which they roll an explosives detection machine around the gate area, randomly selecting passengers for an additional test of their persons and luggage.

According to USA Today, TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne says screeners will be randomly checking the hands and carry-on bags of passengers in gate areas for explosives residue. The program has already been tested at five airports around the country, and Rand corporation analyst Brian Jenkins said if Abdulmutallab had been checked in such a way, there is a "high probability" that the explosives he had in his underwear would have been detected.

The machines are already in use at some security checkpoints. They are so sensitive they can detect when a person has taken heart medication containing nitroglycerin, or if they have recently fired a gun. The test involves taking a swab of the person or their luggage and submitting it for analysis in the microwave-oven-sized machine.

Checked luggage is also screened in a similar way.

TSA's budget for 2011 includes $40 million next year to buy 800 new briefcase-size bomb sensors that are even more portable.

TSA's Payne called the sensors "flexible screening technology" that can be used on passengers "throughout the airport." Passengers so far seem to be tolerant of the increased screening. Jenkins said it creates another layer of unpredictability for the terrorists, and even the ACLU has said the method is not as bad as the full-body scanners being deployed in Europe and planned for the U.S. "That's less invasive," said ACLU policy counsel Mike German.

 FMI: www.tsa.gov