Bomb-Sniffers To Be Deployed At 40 Busiest Airports

By the end of spring, advanced bomb-detection equipment known as "puffer machines" will be deployed at as many as 40 of the nation's busiest airports, the TSA announced Monday.

The machines -- which have already been installed in terminals at Dallas-Fort Worth International, as well as Reagan National and Dulles International Airports near Washington, DC -- "puff" air onto a person as they walk through a portal. The air dislodges microscopic particles from the person's skin and clothes, which are then analyzed for traces of explosives.

The entire process takes 17 seconds, according to the Dallas Morning News, and is far less intrusive than a patdown by a TSA screener. The "puffer" also has the additional benefit of being far more thorough -- the equipment can analyze particles as small as one-billionth of a gram.

"It's more comprehensive and more accurate, and it limits the number of patdowns," said TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser.

Maybe... but the process won't reduce the time you spend in a security line, as passengers will still need to send their belongings through an X-ray machine and walk through metal detectors. Only those passengers selected to receive secondary screening will be required to walk through the portal.

The TSA does not have the final list of airports that will receive the machines, according to the DMN (more likely, they don't wish to reveal it just yet)... but the Associated Press reports citizens of such cities as Baltimore, Boston, Indianapolis, Miami, and Jacksonville can expect to see the machines at their airports before too long.

FMI: www.tsa.gov