Study: TSA's Advanced Scanners Still Miss Certain Explosives

A new study published in the Journal of Transportation Security finds that X-ray backscatter scanners cannot always detect certain explosives. Incendiary devices with tapered edges can fool advanced imaging scanners, especially when they are hidden on the side of the body.

In fact, contraband materials were only reliably detected in the study when they were packed directly on the front or back of the body or had hard edges. Certain materials were found to be relatively easy to hide on the sides of the body. And, even if the amount of X-ray exposure is increased dramatically, "normal anatomy would make a dangerous amount of plastic explosive with tapered edges difficult if not impossible to detect."

The researchers found that "it is very likely that a large (15–20 cm in diameter), irregularly-shaped, cm-thick 'pancake' with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy."

In other words, what advanced imaging technology might view as a large love handle could actually be a pancake of C4.

TSA has implemented AIT nationwide while sticking to the same story: The machines ensure your safety by making it nearly impossible to carry contraband aboard a plane and they protect your privacy by guaranteeing that the scans can't be saved. The latter claim has already been proven to be untrue. Now, this study seems to shatter the former as well.