TSA and shoe scans: Epic Fail

From Homeland Security NewsWire:

As shoe-scanning devices fail, passengers continue to remove their shoes

4 September 2012

In the last five years the U.S. government has tested several scanning devices for detecting explosives and other weapons concealed in the shoes of airline passengers; after spending millions of dollars on these devices, TSA has concluded that the detection systems are ineffective; the result: removing shoes at security check points is going to be a part of air travel for the foreseeable future.

As detection faiils, shoe removal returns //
Source: english.irib.ir

RT reports that TSA started testing four different devices in 2007. One of the four scanners which was tested by the TSA was being used in airports in different countries, but passengers with metal weapons and small explosives in their shoes were able to make it through the scanning devices undetected, according to the New York Times.

One year ago, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano promised that air travelers would eventually be able to keep their shoes on at security checkpoints.

Lisa Farbstein, a DHS spokeswoman, said this to the Times:“Overall, the machines we tested didn’t detect all the materials we were looking for.”

Michael Goldberg, the president of an Israeli firm which created the shoe-scanning device Magshoe for TSA, told the Times that there is currently no form of technology that can detect all of the chemical compounds that can be used in an explosive. While the Magsho detects metal, it cannot detect plastic explosives. Most X-ray machines cannot detect plastic explosives either....

Sounds as if stripping off will continue to be part of our travelling experience..Read the rest of this here....

Pay attention!