TSA To Begin Random Swabbing Of Airport Passengers

02.17.10 | FL News Team

Get ready to be swabbed for explosives even before going through airport security. "USA Today" reports that within weeks Transportation Security Administration screeners will be strolling through airports taking random chemical swabs of passengers and their carry-on baggage. The new security measures were tested in five airports over a 17-day period soon after the Christmas Day attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight. Security screeners will push bomb-detection equipment -- called flexible screening technology -- around airport gates and checkpoint lines to perform the test. The machines are so sensitive that they can detect if someone has recently fired a gun or even nitroglycerin from heart pills. The TSA is spending 40-million dollars for 800 smaller, more portable bomb sensors.