HOUSE HEARING REVIEWS EXPLOSIVE DETECTION TECHNOLOGY IN AIRPORTS

HOUSE HEARING REVIEWS EXPLOSIVE DETECTION TECHNOLOGY IN AIRPORTS    Congressmen, officials and security experts on Thursday reviewed whether the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is deploying the best available technology to detect explosives on cargo and passengers.
   Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., complained that the FAA has not pushed sufficiently for the use of such technologies, such as Threat Image    Projection software and explosive detection systems. Mica said the risks toward passengers and the aviation industry are mounting.
   Mica criticized the FAA for not implementing technology to prevent dangerous items being brought on board. Airports are using old, unreliable, equipment, and screening personnel are ineffective, he said.
   There are several high-technology detection devices certified by the FAA for use, Mica said, and that the public would be shocked to find out how many of them are not being utilized. “At least 23 additional machines are collecting dust in a warehouse. But perhaps the most outrageous finding is the fact that, of the machines that are at the airports, they have been used only a fraction of the time.”
   Ralph S. Sheridan, president and chief executive officer of American Science and Engineering Inc., said his company has the technology to improve security for cargo and passengers. He said he has approached the FAA in the past to address air cargo security, but the FAA has not addressed his questions effectively. He also criticized current FAA rulings.
   “I have repeatedly gone to the FAA,” he said. “Their system of ‘know your shipper’ is a very limited program.”
   Peter C. Williamson, vice president of Rapiscan Security Products Inc., said available technology could curtail the dangers of explosive devices being brought on planes, but only if screeners are trained to use the technology. “Performance standards for all security personnel must be enacted and enforced. All personnel, luggage and cargo entering an aircraft must be subjected to search.”
   Most of the lawmakers at the hearing agreed that there is a gap between what security technology is being used and what is available. “For the sake of the American people, let us get our act together,” said Rep. William Lipinski, D, Ill.