Year
1988
Abstract
The detection of explosives carried by a passenger or included in checked baggage is a priority objective of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Security Research and Development Program. Significant accomplishments have been made in the detection of explosives in checked baggage. A technology, thermal neutron analysis, has been developed and tested extensively in airports with actual passenger baggage. The screening of people for explosives is also progressing with laboratory testing underway of an integrated passenger screening portal. The portal is designed to extract and detect not only the more volatile explosives but also the low vapor-pressure military explosives. In addition to these two mature technologies, the FAA is also funding research in new technologies for bulk and vapor detection of explosives to identify and refine approaches which will be more efficient and effective. The ultimate objective is to field systems to protect the traveling public from terrorist-placed explosives without interrupting the free flow of people and materials we have grown to expect.