TSA Begins Test Screening of Some Air Cargo
he Transportation Security Administration said it has started a two-month test at three airports to see whether machines designed to detect explosives in airline passengers' luggage can be used to scan other cargo transported by commercial planes.
TSA said its Operational Test and Evaluation program would inspect a certain percentage of cargo at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Miami International Airport.
"This test further enhances our security regime at these crucial shipping hubs and takes us one step closer to our goal of screening 100% of higher risk goods," Rear Adm. David Stone, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Transportation Security Administration, said in a statement.
TSA said the explosives detection systems would check some loose air cargo - cartons and packages that could be consolidated into a pallet or a container - before it is loaded onto passenger planes operated by Alaska, American, Delta and United airlines.
TSA also said it planned to extend the program to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the near future.
The TSA's "known shipper" program requires air cargo companies to register with the government. Passenger air carriers aren't allowed to accept cargo from companies that aren't on a TSA-approved list.
