AsiaBizz.com: A Japanese-based company announced on October 3, 2012 that passengers who are about to board the flight could be soon scanned for bombs. The company unveiled the world’s first explosive detecting departure gate.
The tech firm Hitachi showcased a machine which blows a short puff of air at the baggage of the passenger’s hands as he scans his boarding pass. The machine then sucks in the air along with all the minute particles which were blown off the hand and then instantly analyses if there are any explosive substances present.
The whole process takes just one to two seconds which helps in keeping the people moving through the gate and in to the flight. Minoru Sakairi, the senior chief researcher said, “This allows screening of all passengers and can make air travel safer”.
The device will be installed as an extra measure of safety for the passengers, apart from the existing measures like metal detectors, pat-downs and x-rays. The gate will be more effective in finding those people who may have hidden non-metal based bombs on their bodies. For instance one man had concealed plastic explosives in his underarms on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in the year 2009. The explosive materials are highly adhesive and can stay on the body who has handled them.
