Heathrow tries out new body scanner

London, Sept. 5 -- A new full-body scanner, which replaces graphic images of human bodies with cartoon-like ones, is being tried out by the British Airports Authority (BAA) at the Heathrow airport here.

These scanners are considered privacy-friendly and set at rest anxieties of passengers that their naked bodies may be viewed by security personnel. If the trials succeed, they may even replace metal detectors and full-body searches.

The scanner bounces electromagnetic waves instead of x-ray beams off a passenger's body. The screen will show a cartoon-like image of the person being screened. Any suspicious package being carried by the passenger will show up as a yellow-coloured box on the image. The suspect will then be taken to the passenger-screening area, where he or she can look at the scanner's image with security officers.

BAA's director of security Ian Hutcheson said: "It will be effective security and a much better passenger experience."

Hutcheson said the new scanners could eventually become the main technology for screening passengers. The trial began even as British and European Union authorities are reviewing airport security rules in a bid to upgrade them.

However, officials at Manchester airport pointed out that the new scanner had a shortcoming in that it could not effectively penetrate wet clothes - which meant the passengers would have to remove their coats at times of wet weather.

Full-body scanners were tried at British airports after a 2009 incident in which a Nigerian student tried to set off an explosive device hid in his underwear and nearly blew up an American craft about to leave for Detroit.

The British department for transport, which is monitoring the trials, said in a statement: "We are currently consulting on changes to the way security is regulated. Our proposals would give airport operators more freedom to introduce more efficient and passenger-friendly processes while still delivering the same high levels of security." Published by HT Syndication with permission from Pioneer. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at [email protected]