The Transportation Security Administration faces challenging deadlines for broadening its inspection of cargo bound for the bellies of passenger aircraft. Federal law requires that TSA inspect at least 50 percent of all cargo on U.S. passenger flights by February 2009 and 100 percent by August 2010. But there remains sharp disagreement on the law and what TSA and the cargo business must do to meet those deadlines.
While TSA plans to throw more inspectors and canine teams at airport checkpoints ahead of the February 2009 deadline, technology also is expected to play a big role in the agency's stepped-up inspection regimen.
In partnership with private industry, TSA has been evaluating technology in search of systems that reliably detect cargo threats without discouraging commerce. The agency has done considerable testing of cargo-screening machines and devices for possible agency certification and field deployment.
Source: Air Cargo World, http://www.aircargoworld.com/features/0908_3.htm