Chennai airport to get full body scanners this year
TNN | Jan 14, 2019, 08:47 IST
Better securityCHENNAI: Chennai airport may gets its first full body scanners this year as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is all set to introduce them at all major airports.
Chennai will be one of the airports that will see the new machine introduced for screening of passengers. BCAS had said early last month that guidelines for introducing and using full body scanners will be released soon.
A senior official of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) whose personnel will be managing the scanners at the security check of the airport said, “The need for full body scanners were being discussed for a long time. But BCAS needs to come out with specifications for use at Indian airports. Our personnel will be sent for training once the decision is taken and a timeline has been formed.”
The scanners would ease the work load of CISF personnel who have to frisk all passengers who pass through the security check. The machines will enable that the personnel may have to frisk only passengers who trigger a beep pr an alarm at the scanner. BCAS did a few trials at some of the airports to find out how effective the system was for the Indian scenario.
An airport official said that the pressure on CISF personnel to speed up checks is high during early morning and evening peak hours when the airport handles around 118 flights in five hours.
An AAI official said that they would start preparing for installing the scanners as soon as the specifications for the machines are out. “After the BCAS specifications are out we have to float the tender to buy the machines. Personnel will have to be trained in monitoring the images once the machines come,” he added.
CISF personnnel are clued in to the images of the bags that pass through X-ray scanners. “In many cases they are able to flag suspicious items purely due to their experience in spotting the unusual,” said an official.
Sources said the images of the scanners may be monitored from a remote location to ensure privacy for passengers. Such scanners were first introduced in a few US airports and are continued to be used. The new scanners will be of help for Chennai airport as an integrated terminal is being constructed between the international and domestic terminals.
Chennai will be one of the airports that will see the new machine introduced for screening of passengers. BCAS had said early last month that guidelines for introducing and using full body scanners will be released soon.
A senior official of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) whose personnel will be managing the scanners at the security check of the airport said, “The need for full body scanners were being discussed for a long time. But BCAS needs to come out with specifications for use at Indian airports. Our personnel will be sent for training once the decision is taken and a timeline has been formed.”
The scanners would ease the work load of CISF personnel who have to frisk all passengers who pass through the security check. The machines will enable that the personnel may have to frisk only passengers who trigger a beep pr an alarm at the scanner. BCAS did a few trials at some of the airports to find out how effective the system was for the Indian scenario.
An airport official said that the pressure on CISF personnel to speed up checks is high during early morning and evening peak hours when the airport handles around 118 flights in five hours.
An AAI official said that they would start preparing for installing the scanners as soon as the specifications for the machines are out. “After the BCAS specifications are out we have to float the tender to buy the machines. Personnel will have to be trained in monitoring the images once the machines come,” he added.
CISF personnnel are clued in to the images of the bags that pass through X-ray scanners. “In many cases they are able to flag suspicious items purely due to their experience in spotting the unusual,” said an official.
Sources said the images of the scanners may be monitored from a remote location to ensure privacy for passengers. Such scanners were first introduced in a few US airports and are continued to be used. The new scanners will be of help for Chennai airport as an integrated terminal is being constructed between the international and domestic terminals.
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