Tsa

A program that lets preapproved air travelers zip through faster security lines will be expanded this year to 35 of the nation's largest airports, Transportation Security Administration officials announced Wednesday. The pilot program, dubbed PreCheck, lets travelers who get TSA clearance avoid what have become the most annoying steps of post-9/11 screening: removing shoes, belt and coats. PreCheck has been tested for several months with frequent travelers who fly with several major airlines at seven airports, including Los Angeles International.

It was a tough week for the Transportation Security Administration, but on at least one issue the federal agency may have scored a small victory. The TSA was on the defensive during congressional hearings last week over charges that it has wasted money by storing hundreds of pieces of screening equipment, including full-body scanners, in warehouses in Texas. The TSA's top financial officer, David Nicholson, defended the agency, saying it has cut its warehouse costs from $7.6 million in 2009 to $3.5 million in 2011.

The Transportation Security Administration reached what seems like a lofty milestone last week when it announced it had screened 1 million passengers through a new accelerated security program at airports across the country. But the TSA acknowledges that the new security program, dubbed PreCheck, has served only a small fraction of the nation's air travelers. The TSA screens an estimated 1.8 million passengers a day at 450 commercial airports. That means that in the same time that the PreCheck program screened 1 million passengers since it launched in October, the TSA has processed nearly 335 million passengers.

The Transportation Security Administration reached what seems like a lofty milestone last week when it announced it had screened 1 million passengers through a new accelerated security program at airports across the country. But the TSA acknowledges that the new security program, dubbed PreCheck, has served only a small fraction of the nation's air travelers. The TSA screens an estimated 1.8 million passengers a day at 450 commercial airports. That means that in the same time that the PreCheck program screened 1 million passengers since it launched in October, the TSA has processed nearly 335 million passengers.

Nicholas George planned to brush up on his Arabic vocabulary during a flight in August from Philadelphia to California, where he was to start his senior year at Pomona College. So he carried some Arabic-English flashcards in his pocket to study on the plane. But those flashcards changed George's life far beyond the classroom. The 22-year-old from Pennsylvania is speaking out against what he contends are abuses by federal authorities in airport security measures. George, a physics major who is considering a career as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East, is suing the Transportation Security Administration, the FBI and Philadelphia police for jailing him after his flashcards were found and confiscated in a Philadelphia airport screening.

Despite the uproar over intrusive pat-downs for some airline travelers, the policy will not change heading into the holiday travel season, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said. "Clearly, it's invasive; it's not comfortable," John Pistole said of the pat-downs in an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley. " But he said the agency was trying to strike the right balance between privacy and security to protect the nation from potential terrorist attacks, such as the failed bomb plot last Christmas by a man who authorities said had explosives hidden in his underwear.

Question: I am traveling to London from LAX in May. For the first time, I want to carry on rather than check. Must I limit the liquids I am taking to a 1-quart plastic bag? How strict is the Transportation Security Administration on this topic for international flights? Susan J. Rainey, Riverside Answer: Yes, 1 quart. And very strict. "When you come through the passenger checkpoint, we aren't aware of where you're going," said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the TSA. "You might be flying to [Washington's]

X-ray body scanners used by the Transportation Security Administration at airports around the country are back in the news. The European Union on Monday banned the machines, also known as backscatters, at European airports over concerns that they might be linked to cancer. The investigative news organization Pro Publica reported earlier this month that research shows radiation emitted by the machines could lead to a small number of cancer cases , findings it says the TSA "glossed over" in assessing the safety of the machines.

The Transportation Security Administration rolled out PreCheck, the expedited security program for pre-screened fliers, this week at Los Angeles International Airport, the sixth airport in the nation to participate in the pilot program since it started last year. In an announcement Wednesday, the TSA said the program at LAX so far is available only to American Airlines frequent fliers at two checkpoints in Terminal 4. Here's how it works: Fliers who are U.S. citizens provide personal information and undergo background checks to qualify for traveler programs approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, such as Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS.

After years of rebuffing health concerns over airport scanners, the Transportation Security Administration plans to conduct new tests on the potential radiation exposure generated by the machines at more than 100 airports nationwide. But the TSA does not plan to re-test the machines or the passengers. Instead, the agency plans to test its own airport security officers to see if they are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation while working with the scanning machines. News of the test leaked out after the TSA issued a request last month to government vendors to provide wearable, personal dosimeters that can detect if the radiation readings on TSA officers exceed dangerous levels.

The Transportation Security Administration labeled the drug-smuggling case at Los Angeles International Airport that came to light Wednesday as a "significant" breach in security . If so, there's a bigger problem than just the LAX case. Earlier this month, a former TSA officer admitted his role in a drug-smuggling scandal from 2010 to 2011 on the East Coast. The case is taking place in New Haven , Conn., and others involved have already pleaded guilty. Here's what the Hartford Courant reported on April 17 : "Three Transportation Security Administration officers, two police officers and more than a dozen drug dealers in Florida, New York and Connecticut are charged in the smuggling conspiracy that delivered illegal oxycodone pills from Florida to the Waterbury [Conn.]

The man with eight pounds of methamphetamine in his carry-on bag stood in the snaking security line at Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 4, inching toward the checkpoint, when a TSA screener approached. But it wasn't to stop the contraband, according to prosecutors. It was to make sure it got through. The screener, John Whitfield, allegedly told the man to get to the back of the line so he and his luggage would get to the X-ray machines when Whitfield's shift started.

Businessman John E. Brennan said he is so sick of being harassed by the TSA when he travels that he stripped down to his birthday suit at Portland International Airport on Tuesday night in protest. And he wants you to do the same. Reactions varied to Brennan's decision to remove all his clothes to prove that he was not carrying an explosive device -- or anything dangerous, for that matter -- beneath his clothing. Parents reportedly shielded their children's eyes and looked away themselves.

A program that lets preapproved air travelers zip through security lines will be expanded later this month to Delta Air Lines passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. The program, dubbed PreCheck and operated by the Transportation Security Administration, has been available for several months at LAX but only for passengers who fly American Airlines, one of the largest carriers at the airport. Starting April 24, it will be offered to Delta passengers as well, the TSA announced Friday.

When an online video gets more than a million views, it's hard to ignore. That may be the reason the Transportation Security Administration took the unusual step last week to address an online video that claims to show how to circumvent the full-body scanners that the TSA has installed at 140 airports across the country. Jonathan Corbett, a blogger and TSA critic, posted a video this month on YouTube and his own Web page, www.tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com , titled "How to Get Anything Through TSA Nude Body Scanners.

A program that lets preapproved air travelers zip through faster security lines will be expanded this year to 35 of the nation's largest airports, Transportation Security Administration officials announced Wednesday. The pilot program, dubbed PreCheck, lets travelers who get TSA clearance avoid what have become the most annoying steps of post-9/11 screening: removing shoes, belt and coats. PreCheck has been tested for several months with frequent travelers who fly with several major airlines at seven airports, including Los Angeles International.

In the last two months, two U.S. Transportation Security Administration officers have been arrested on suspicion of stealing from passenger luggage at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) -- incidents that leave me worrying about how often such theft happens. Judging from official statistics, it seems rare -- or maybe the culprits just don't get caught very often. On Thursday, TSA officer Paul Yashou, 37, was arrested on suspicion of taking $30,000 worth of items from suitcases at the airport , according to this Daily Breeze story , which also said that a police search of Yashou's home turned up "numerous items belonging to LAX passengers.

Full-body scanners at airport security checkpoints will no longer display explicit "person-specific images" under new technology being phased in nationwide, according to a statement Wednesday by the Transportation Security Administration. Instead, a software upgrade for the machines will show a generic body outline. Critics have pointed to explicit scanned images as a virtual "strip search" and a violation of passengers' privacy ever since the full-body scanners were phased in last year.

A test program that allows air travelers who voluntarily offer background information to zip through faster airport security lines without removing shoes, belts and coats will be expanded to 28 new airports, Transportation Security Administration officials said Wednesday. The PreCheck program has been tested for several months at nine airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, and has already been used to screen 336,000 passengers. “We are pleased to expand this important effort, in collaboration with our airline and airport partners, as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system," said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole.

Federal customs officials made permanent Monday a program to streamline the process for entering the U.S. at international airports across the country. The Global Entry program, which began as a pilot program in 2008, allows U.S. citizens, legal U.S. residents and visitors from Mexico, Canada and the Netherlands to use an electronic kiosk to clear U.S. customs instead of lining up for an interview with customs officials. The process cuts the wait time by up to 70%, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.