Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at Chicago O’Hare International Airport are testing new bagging screening equipment that could make it easier to clear security in 2019.
The airport will be the first to combine the use of the new technology with conveyor-based security screening lanes, which were installed in 2016.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the new machines, which use computer tomography (CT) and allow security agents to view the contents of bags from multiple angles, could eliminate the need to remove laptops and liquids from baggage.
The CT scanners – which are more compact than those already in use to examine checked luggage – produce clear, three-three-dimensional images.
Computer algorithms call attention to liquids and other items that may warrant closer inspection by TSA agents.
The CT scanners are already in use in Boston’s Logan International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, among two dozen US airports where they have been installed.
The machines are intended to limit the need for hand searches of luggage, although no data is yet available on whether they have made security procedures less intrusive or more efficient.
