Airport | Aviation Security

Each year, more than 1,100 commercial airlines spend more than 307,000 hours compiling and transmitting to U.S. Customs and Border Protection biographical information about more than 184 million airline passengers and crew members, at a total cost to the airlines of nearly $68.4 million.

In addition, an estimated 460,000 private aircraft pilots provide similar biographical information – including full name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, passport number, expiration date, country of issuance, etc. – to CBP, a huge paperwork burden that consumes about 115,000 hours each year.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has ordered from Smiths Detection, of Morristown, NJ, $11.4 million worth of the company’s explosive trace detection technology.

The product, IONSCAN 500DT, which is intended for use at security checkpoints, identifies trace amounts of explosives collected on a single swab, in a matter of seconds. The technology uses ion mobile spectrometry technology in a dual tube design to provide the high sensitivity and accuracy needed to detect trace explosives.

Black Diamond Advanced Technology, of Tempe, AZ, announced the release of its new multi-modal biometrics collection system on June 9. The device, which upon first sight might appear to look like a digital camera, is equipped with a new embedded-processor dual-iris camera system, which is capable of outdoor, independent dual-iris image capture in less than five seconds on a rugged platform.