Transportation

TSA adds AS&E's X-ray inspection systems to qualified air cargo screening list
Screening cargo on air planes is promising to be big business, and companies rush to have their screening cargo machines certified by TSA; AS&E has its Gemini 6040, Gemini 7555, and Gemini 100100 X-ray inspection systems added to TSA’s certified cargo screener list
- Read more
CBP deploys radiation detection portals at Port Hueneme, California
During fiscal year 2009, CBP deployed 179 new radiation portal monitors (RPMs) throughout the U.S. ports of entry, bringing the number of RPMs to 1,354 at the U.S. land and sea ports of entry; the latest RPM were deployed at Port Hueneme, California
- Read more

Web site lists rail-carried hazardous chemicals in real time
Railroad operator CSX now provides first responders and the Chemical Transportation Emergency Center (CHEMTREC) access to secure Web-based information which allows CHEMTREC to find a train number, tank car number, and identify what is being transported in those cars; BNSF also provides CHEMTREC with manifest information, but only after a derailment; BNSF does, however, provide municipalities a list of chemicals it routinely transports through cities
- Read more
Religious leaders discuss body scanners with DHS
Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders met with DHS officials to discuss the privacy aspects of whole-body scanning; Muslim religious organizations, the Pope, and Orthodox Jewish authorities declared body scanners to be in violation of their respective religions’ modesty strictures, especially for women, and urged their followers to opt for pat-downs instead
- Read more

Smiths Detection's mid-sized X-ray system added to TSA's Air Cargo Screening Qualified List
By August 2010, all cargo carried on passenger planes will have to be screened; Smiths Detection’s latest addition to its list of cargo screening machines — a pallet-sized scanner — is the company’s sixth technology approved to help shippers meet TSA August 2010 100 percent air cargo screening deadline
- Read more
TSA: Alleged child molester did not train or use new full-body scanners at Logan
A Boston man charged with multiple child sex crimes was a certified luggage and passengers screener at Logan Airport; TSA says the man was already missing from work for several days when full-body scanners were deployed at Logan on 1 March, and thus had no access to the machines; the man’s arrest adds fuel to the opposition to body scanners
- Read more

Shoes will have to be taken off at U.S. air ports for a while yet
DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said that technology currently available does not allow screeners adequately to examine what is in someone’s shoes while the person is wearing them
- Read more
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex uses a variety of means to detect WMD
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex uses the latest — together with the simplest — technology in trying to prevent weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled through the port; among these means used: a $3 million high-tech screening ship, a radiation-detecting helicopter and a badge-carrying black Labrador retriever that can sniff out chemical and biological weapons
- Read more

Passive millimeter-wave technology promoted as solving privacy, health concerns
There are three leading technologies in whole-body scanning: backscatter X-ray, active millimeter wave, and passive millimeter wave; the first raises privacy issue; the second raises health concerns; Florida-based Brijot, a champion of passive millimeter wave, says its technology addresses both sets of concerns
- Read more
More U.S. airports deploy body scanners; new scanners -- and 40 existing ones -- used for primary screening
The U.S Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said whole-body scanners will be deployed to nine more U.S. airports; the machines are among 150 units bought with money from the federal stimulus package; they join 40 machines already in use at 19 U.S. airports; both the new and existing machines will be used for primary screening
- Read more

Airport security by the numbers
In its 2011 budget request, DHS has asked for $214.7 million to buy and install 500 whole-body scanners; 75 percent of high-risk airports and 60 percent of second-tier airports will have body scanners deployed by the end of 2011
- Read more
Canada to use DHS's Secure Flight rules
Starting in December, passengers on Canadian airlines flying to, from, or even over the United States without ever landing there, will only be allowed to board the aircraft once the U.S. DHS has determined they are not terrorists
- Read more

Fired O'Hare Airport security chief sues city over firing
James Maurer, former security chief at O”Hare, seeks more than $2 million in damages from the city for his dismissal last September; he says the reason for his dismissal were his repeated pleas to put correction of serious security lapses ahead of moving forward on costly plans to modernize the airport
- Read more
FAA investigating reports that young child was allowed to direct flights into JFK
The FAA is looking into reports of a child directing air traffic at New York’s JFK airport; a child’s voice is heard giving instructions to at least three pilots
- Read more
U.K. shipper complies with "known shipper" requirements by installing Avigilon surveillance system
Avigilon helps Airberg conform with government-regulated security requirements, saving more than £700,000 each year; additional benefits include protecting the shipper’s facility from theft and vandalism and minimizing the loss and damage of goods
- Read more

More headlines