Airports Using Old Equipment Against New Threats

At airports, the war on terrorism is being fought with 30-year-old weapons.

Metal detectors and X-ray machines used to screen passengers and carry-on luggage date from the 1970s, when they were deployed to prevent hijackings.

They can’t detect plastic explosives, such as those allegedly hidden in the shoes of a man aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight Dec. 22. A passenger, Richard C. Reid was arrested after American Airlines attendants allegedly saw him try to touch a lighted match to his sneakers.

“Most equipment that is deployed is a generation old,” said Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee. “You need highly sophisticated equipment that will detect explosive materials.”

Even the current metal detectors could be replaced with more modern equipment, former Federal Aviation Administration security chief Billie Vincent said.

“Given the level of threat, we do not want to grandfather anything,” Vincent said.

Developing and deploying such equipment will be the job of the new Transportation Security Administration, which is to take control of airline security by Feb. 19.

But President Bush’s nominee to head the agency, John Magaw, is still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

Transportation Security Administration spokesman Paul Takemoto said the new agency is looking at new technology to help screen passengers. The FAA is helping to develop such equipment at its technical center in Atlantic City, N.J.

One low-tech solution is on the way. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency plans to hire an additional 90 bomb-sniffing dogs to be deployed at 25 airports. There now are 180 dogs at 39 airports.

The new aviation security law requires a system in place at each airport to screen all checked bags by explosive detection machines by the end of this year. Beginning Jan. 18, all checked bags must be inspected for explosives by machine, hand, bomb-sniffing dog or ensuring that the luggage is not loaded on an airplane unless the passenger boards.