Originally Posted by Bart
A couple years ago, we were obligated to open every bag that alarmed on the CTX to inspect the item that alarmed. However, nowadays, we can use what is called on-screen alarm resolution protocols. That is to say, there are certain things we can do to resolve the alarm on-screen as opposed to physically inspecting the bag. This has cut down on the number of bags we open tremendously.
Yeah, that was pretty silly having to open every bag that alarmed, but then again you can't do a crash course training on CTX. I pretty much guessed that. It's a good thing that TSA can use on-screen tools now to resolve alarms as a first step. ^ I don't see them open as many bags as before. However, I think it's absolutely absurd that there are rows of CTX machines behind-the-scenes with TSA physically lifting the bags on to the CTX machines and throwing them straight to the conveyor. That's a waste of $$$ and very inefficient. I think it would be a good idea to use airport staff.
Finally, whenever the CTX machine has reached max capacity but is still not meeting the screening demand, there are certain alternative screening protocols we can use to keep up with the demand. Taking ETD samples of bags is one of those alternative screening protocols that allows us to expedite screening. This, too, may result in opening bags.
I personally hate ETD exterior sampling.
Isn't the failure rate like 50%? And ETD full search is extremely painful and long for the TSA screener. I still swear that managing the locations of CTX machines, TSA staff and matching it with demand will do a better job.
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