On June 28, the Delhi airport began testing a full-body scanner, which detects objects on passengers without a pat-down search, at Terminal 2.
“Full-body scanners can detect non-metal objects, which are hard to detect with the conventional door frame metal detector, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in a statement. DIAL has installed a full-body scanner at the security check area for trials, it said.
The trials would be conducted on a real-time basis i.e. passengers would have to pass through it during their security check before moving to the security hold area,” the statement said.
BCAS directed to install full body scanner
Aviation security regulator BCAS had in April 2019 directed 84 hypersensitive and sensitive airports including the Delhi airport in India to install body scanners by March 2020, replacing existing door frame metal detectors, hand -held scanners and pat-down searches of passengers to detect metallic objects.
Trials period of full-body scanner
The trials of a full-body scanner at the Delhi airport would be carried out for a period of 45 to 60 days, the statement said. Upon completion of trials, the findings would be shared with regulatory bodies for evaluation and the further course of action would be decided accordingly.
“During this period, feedback of all the stakeholders the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the airport operator DIAL, and passengers -would be taken, examined, and evaluated,” it said.
The new advanced scanner is found to be accurate, has medical approvals regarding health risks and completely answers privacy issues. It can reveal anything hidden beneath passengers’ clothes, reducing the no. of random pat-downs and strip searches. This saves personnel from an uncomfortable situation and speed up security checks.
