LIHU‘E — Lihu‘e Airport marked a major milestone in secure air travel Thursday. Within just a few minutes of the dedication of an Advanced Imaging Technology scanner, the first passengers were guided through the new, all-body scanner at the airport.
LIHU‘E — Lihu‘e Airport marked a major milestone in secure air travel Thursday.
Within just a few minutes of the dedication of an Advanced Imaging Technology scanner, the first passengers were guided through the new, all-body scanner at the airport.
Lihu‘e Airport is the first in the state with the new technology.
“We always try to do it this way,” said Sharlene Mata, the federal Transportation Security Administration director for Kaua‘i. “There’s no fanfare, we just dedicate the machine and go live.”
Advanced-imaging technology safely screens passengers for both metallic and non-metallic threats, including weapons and explosives, states a release from TSA.
The technology can detect items which may be concealed under a passenger’s clothing and allows TSA to screen without physical contact with the passengers.
“The installation of this screening and security technology became a congressional mandate and a priority of President Barrack Obama following the Dec. 25th security incident in Detroit, Michigan,” said Mata in an e-mail.
“It is a great achievement of the state of Hawai‘i and the County of Kaua‘i to have this technology installed with the first deployment of 32 major airports across the nation.”
The TSA plans to deploy a total of 450 imaging-technology units in 2010, Honolulu International Airport being scheduled to receive units during the next deployment.
Obama’s fiscal-year 2011 budget requests funding to purchase and deploy an additional 500 AIT scanners.
“From what was presented at a Wednesday briefing by TSA, I strongly believe this system offers a greater level of security for our traveling public and will discourage those with malice in their hearts to use Kaua‘i as a staging area for violence,” said Kaua‘i Police Department Chief Darryl Perry in an e-mail after attending the briefing on the new equipment.
Advanced-imaging technology, described as “backscatter technology” utilizing the projection of low-level X-ray beams over the body to create a reflection of the body which is displayed on a monitor, is completely optional for all passengers.
Passengers who opt out of imaging technology screening will receive alternate screening which includes a physical pat-down.
Passengers using the AIT equipment will be asked to remove objects from their pockets before entering the portal.
Once in the portal, another security officer in a walled-off, remote location views the black-and-white image resembling a chalk etching, and once any anomalies are resolved, the image is immediately deleted and the passenger exits the portal.
Mata said because of equipment is new, TSA’s estimate for processing a passenger is about 20 seconds.
To address passenger concerns, Mata said TSA has implemented strict measures to ensure passenger privacy.
Additionally, the image cannot be stored, transmitted or printed, and is deleted immediately once viewed. There is also a privacy algorithm applied to the image.
“This system has been years in development to allay concerns of competing groups with respect to individual rights and safety concerns,” Perry said.
Backscatter technology screening is safe for all passengers, states the TSA release.
The technology meets national health and safety standards, including applicable American standards for radiation safety.
This technology was evaluated by the federal Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, with results confirming that radiation doses are well below those specified by the American Standards Institute, the release states.
Comparatively, the amount of radiation from a backscatter scan is equivalent to two minutes of flight on an airline, and the energy projected by millimeter-wave technology is 10,000 times less than a cell-phone transmission, states the TSA website.
Passengers with joint replacements or other medical devices that would regularly trigger the alarm of a metal detector often prefer this technology because it is quicker and less-invasive than a pat-down, the website states.
“This is not the silver bullet,” said Mel Carraway, the TSA area director who has been on Kaua‘i since Sunday overseeing the final stages of the installation of the AIT.
“It’s a wonderful addition to the security and health of the passengers, and it supports the aloha spirit that I have experienced while on Kaua‘i.”
Mata said because Hawai‘i is a visitor-industry state, it was important that we were one of the forerunners using this new technology.
The traveling public’s health and security is a collaborative effort between the airports, TSA and the various security agencies, front and back, Carraway said.
“The TSA’s mission is to protect the traveling public by deterring and preventing acts of violence against innocent travelers,” Perry said.
“Therefore, and by extension, it will have a huge impact on everyone here on Kaua‘i, and in the state, because we’re surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and I would venture to say that 95 percent of our population uses commercial airlines, not only to travel inter-island but globally.”
Visit www.tsa.gov for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
