Full-Body X-Ray Security Scanner Debuts
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 02.26.07 | 7:48 AM ET
Initial reports out of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, where a full-body X-ray machine (read: one that can see through clothes) was unveiled Friday, reveal that air travelers seem willing to give up some of their privacy in favor of improved security. “Most passengers asked to submit to a full-body X-ray at Security Checkpoint B didn’t bat an eyelash,” writes Faye Bowers in the Christian Science Monitor. “Nine in 10 gamely stepped up to a scanner about the size of a vending machine, placed their feet on the red footprints painted on the carpet, and raised their arms.”
The machine, known as a backscatter, is on loan to the airport as part of a pilot program. If the trial period is deemed a success, the AP reports, the full-body X-ray machines will be rolled out at Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport later this year.
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