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Friday, Sept. 10, 2004

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  Passengers selected for a secondary screening have their boarding passes tested while undergoing other checks, said Darrin Kayser, speaking for the agency. Security agents use a box one foot square with a swatch of fabric that picks up microscopic samples.

"There is really no further delay for them as long as it is a negative match," Kayser said. The explosives scanner takes seconds to register a reading.

The agency recently tested the scanners as part of a rail inspection project in Connecticut. Kayser said the equipment is not being used routinely on the rail system, but can be if intelligence alerts authorities to a threat.

The scanner can screen paper boarding passes and plastic IDs like drivers licenses for numerous explosives.

Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are to join the tests in a few weeks, with 10 more airports added in the budget year that starts next month.

National - just across the Potomac River from Washington - was the last major airport to reopen following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It remains closed to private planes.

Last week, National joined four other airports participating in a registered traveler program. Passengers who fly at least once a week on American Airlines can register, undergo a background check and provide fingerprints and iris scans.

In exchange, passengers travel through a separate security line after passing through a kiosk to verify their identification. Secondary screenings for these passengers will be largely eliminated, officials say.

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