Chicago:
Passengers throughout the United States continued on Wednesday to go through tightened security measures at airports before boarding planes following the Christmas bombing attempt on a US airliner.
At Reagan National Airport, which serves Washington, where Congress is now talking about millions of US dollars for individual body scan image security devices, most passengers had no problem with the increased surveillance.
Even though the image is often called a virtual "strip search," some passengers said they are willing to put up with the inconvenience if it finally means security while flying.
In Chicago, the opinion was similar, although one woman said she thought governments should be doing more intelligence work in order to prevent potential attacks.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to ignite explosives aboard a Northwest Airlines jet as it was coming in for a landing in Detroit, did not go through such a scan where his flight began, at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
On Wednesday, a couple of the high-tech security scanners were demonstrated near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Transportation Safety Agency (TSA) officials tested the "backscatter" machine, which uses low-level X-rays to create a two-dimensional image of the body, from Rapiscan Systems, a unit of OSI Systems Inc.
They also tested the "millimeter wave" machine, which uses radio waves to produce a three-dimensional image based on energy reflected back from the body.
Six of those machines, which are made by L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., are being used for what TSA calls "primary screenings" at six US airports: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; Miami, Florida; San Francisco, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This means passengers go through the scans instead of metal detectors, although they can elect to receive a pat-down search from a security officer instead.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it has bought 150 "backscatter" machines, which use low-level X-rays to create a two-dimensional image of the body, from Rapiscan Systems, a unit of OSI Systems Inc.
Those machines, which cost 190-thousand US dollars each, are expected to be deployed in US airports in 2010.
TSA has said it safeguards privacy by ensuring that all full-body images are viewed in a walled-off location not visible to the public.
In addition, the security officer assisting the passenger cannot view the image and the officer who views the image never sees the passenger. Also, the machines cannot store, print or transmit any images they produce.
In addition to the scanning machines in place or recently purchased by TSA, the agency says it plans to buy 300 more.