Originally Posted by Uniter
Actually, I saw someone find some "bomb" residue on one once at the ROC airport (of all places). It was an older woman and her small gardening type bag set it off. I had a long wait for my flight, so I wandered back and asked the agent what was up. He told me that her bag had set off the alarm for nitrous oxide ... and an hour of questioning later it was determined that some gardening supplies use this stuff as well. Felt bad for the poor woman ... but what can you do?
Stop the nonsense would be nice.
Have the machines ever found anything that truly represented a danger? Have they stopped a bomb or other device from being placed on a plane? Were there arrests because of what the machine identified? -- have those machines served a purpose other than to give a lot of people jobs and line the manufacturer's pockets. --- That is more of what my question was asking.
That the little old lady was stopped because she was messing in her garden before she took a trip to visit her grandkids is not beneficial to anyone.