The US TSA (Transport Security Administration) is breathing new life into a plan to integrate shoe-scanning technologies into US airport security networks in coming months. Once these shoe-scanners are in place, passengers should no longer have to remove their shoes prior to being allowed on board airliners.

The administration intends to acquire 100 airport shoe-scanning machines by 2011, according to information provided at the beginning of March 2010.

Earlier airport shoe-scanning trials took place in 2007, but were not successful. They were carried out at Orlando International Airport but – after seven months of tests – were pulled when it was found that some weapons and parts used to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were not being detected.

The scanners involved in the 2007 trials also picked up on metal components in shoes that were part of the design (so entirely safe), and this proved alarming to some passengers.
Shoe Scanning Technologies

As of 2010, more than 10 firms have developed shoe scanning technologies for use in airports. All have raised the prospect of a more successful outcome than the 2007 tests yielded, while the TSA has highlighted the boost they will give US airport security.

What’s more – a spokesperson for the administration said – there would be further benefits to them, too. Allowing passengers to refrain from having to remove their shoes “would help checkpoints run more smoothly and allow our officers to focus on other aspects of security”, Sterling Payne told USA Today.
Airport Security: Shoe Removal

The requirement to remove shoes at airport security checkpoints was established in 2001, in light of an attempted mid-air terrorist act, in which infamous ‘shoe bomber’ Richard Reid tried to detonate devices on an American Airlines flight between Paris and the US. Only certain passengers were made to do this at first but shoe-removal became a universal requirement in 2006, after a fresh attempt at causing mid-air terror was unwrapped.

The machines being developed are various sizes and work in different ways. Some of them employ electromagnetic technology, others employ chemical sensors.

Airport International will provide further coverage of these new airport shoe-scanning machines as future facts emerge.