Originally Posted by
SATTSO
If the terminal includes the gate area then it would help in this particular case. If 2 people are involved, one fly into a particular airport to make a connecting flight. The other clears security at that airport, and they meet at the gate to assemble the IED. For the most part, it can happen at any airport.
I was thinking of a case where people arrive into, say, ATL with IED components from LGA, JFK, MIA, FLL and BOS. If the person with the explosive is caught in LGA, doing a terminal dump there wouldn't find anything. And trying to do a terminal dump at ATL based on his destination would be too costly to be practical since you'd have no idea of the timing: when the others would be arriving.