Logan International explores cargo screening

Logan International explores cargo screening    Logan International Airport in Boston began a pilot program Tuesday to x-ray bulk cargo booked for transport on passenger aircraft, making it first major U.S. airport to carry out cargo screening, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority.
   The initial test period will last 30 days and use mobile cargo inspection systems from New York-based L-3 Communications Corp. to scan the contents of full truckloads. Subsequent 30-day tests will use different machines to scan cargo on pallets and other configurations, Massport spokesman Jose Juves said. The airport hopes to attract other companies willing to test x-ray, explosives and other types of detection systems as part of an ongoing evaluation, he said.
   The current test involves a limited amount of cargo identified by the airlines and will take place under different scenarios, such as busy and slow periods, Juves said.
   Several airlines do a limited amount of cargo screening on their own, but this is the first time an airport has conducted screening for multiple users, Massport officials explained. The airport has taken several steps to beef up security since Sept 11, 2001, when hijackers got through airport checks and hijacked two of the planes used to attack the World Trade Center.
   Critics say the government has focused on passenger and baggage security to the neglect of air cargo. Legislation introduced by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., requiring 100 percent screening of cargo on passenger planes was removed from the Homeland Security Appropriations bill by House-Senate negotiators.
   Air cargo screening systems have not reached the same proficiency as passenger baggage systems due to the high cost of the much larger machines required and the logistics challenge of trying to funnel thousands of pieces of cargo in varying sizes through machines in an efficient manner that does not slow shipments or plane departures.
   The test is designed to determine the best technology and develop operational procedures for routing cargo through an automated security system.
   'This is an important step to establishing a match between screening technologies and airport operations to address a threat to security that must be closed,' Joseph Paresi, president of L-3s Security and Detection Systems division said in a statement.
      Massport said it will share results with the Transportation Security Administration, which is scheduled to issue comprehensive air cargo security rules by the end of the year. TSA will have some preliminary results from the Logan test in hand as it develops the new policies.