Yesterday I was returning from El Paso Airport to LAX. I was waiting in line and was asked to proceed between two huge blue walls. I wasn't sure what it was but blindly went through it without anyone so much as explaining what it was I was doing. I mean, it was very quick from the time I was asked to show my boarding slip and told to enter the area. I entered it and immediately realized what it was when the TSA gentleman told me to raise my hands over my head. I asked him "Is this thing safe?" he said "Of course its safe or I would have had something bad happen to me already since I stand near it." Before I could blink he told me to step into another area and face my luggage.

I was thinking, what the hell. A few seconds later he came up to me and asked me what was in my front left pocket and I explained NOTHING. I immediately thought that if the machine was so good why would it show I had something in my pocket when there obviously was absolutely nothing. I was then told I would need to have a pat down and to raise my hands where the guy then proceeded to give me a very thorough pat down. I swear I will never allow them to put me in that machine again. I really think everyone else should do the same and boycott entering it.

Yep - chances are good even with certain types of clothing that you will need the patdown after the needles radiation anyway. So, just go for the patdown, even though the whole thing is ridiculous.

I find your post a little puzzling though -- you went through this experience without knowing what the blue box was or possibility to opt out despite extensive news coverage, now know it is Backscatter Xrays using the proper name, then had suddenly the awareness to find and post on FlyerTalk? It seems a little weird... you're not a member using an alias are you?

If not, welcome to FT. Read up on a few issues and then join the discussion.

It was probably a pimple on your thigh.
When you have GED grads pretending to be Radiologists, this is what you get.

TSA claims they have signs and images posted before the Strip Search Porno Scanners so a person is properly informed of what it is they are about to be subjected to.

Did you see any such signage?

They probably do but the OP was probably busy with something to not notice or something. Still, I wonder how he/she couldn't have noticed what the machine and not know what it was.

As for the safety of these things, I'm on the fence about that. On one hand it's said that it is safe, on the other it uses radiation (albeit supposedly small amounts) and is basically a radiological device and should be operated by people trained in such fields for maintenance and such. Personally, I don't think the radiation output is so much that it would be deemed medical grade but I am worried about the cumulative effect of these machines, that is how much radiation would accumulate over a given amount of time and the doses absorbed.

Would be nice if a nuclear power plant like Three Mile Island got a hold of one of these backscatter machines under the pretense of security and studied it instead.

TSA and the manufacturers of the BackScatter Strip Search Porno Machines say they are safe.

Many others who have no financial interest in the devices argue that the safety of these machines has not been demonstrated.

Think I will listen to those who have no reason to claim the machines are safe or not safe.

For what it's worth, I went through IND after the new procedures were put in place, and if there were signs, I didn't see them. I knew how to recognize the scanner and opt out thanks to FlyerTalk.

I would think that the Radiological Society and other experts would demand that these machines undergo third party, impartial research and testing. Like I said, I think the radiation may be as low as they say it is, but I am more concerned about the accumulation of radiation in the area and how it could disperse not just in the checkpoint but in the airport volume as well. I understand that x-rays are a form of electromagnetic wavelength but don't the parts of the machine give off particles such as beta particles that could be harmful?

Also, what would happen if one of these machines somehow malfunctioned and had a "meltdown?" (Not sure if x-ray machines "meltdown") I know that hospitals would shut down the entire radiology department if a machine were to malfunction that would compromise the safety of the people in the building.

Honestly, I hadn't flown in an airplane for quite some time. I was directed down a particular lane and told to face forward. I asked the guy what was this thing (honestly I didn't know what they looked like and assumed the "xray" machine would be different looking) and he mumbled something. At that instant I realized what it was and asked if it was safe.

What you have to understand is that first your putting stuff in a basket and then they just instantly tell you to go down another lane. In this airport there was a line of 4 people waiting to be xrayed. It was seriously like one out every two were asked to do it.

However, we all know the TSA reputation for "missing" signage.. I guess the cleaners moved it

I complained to a three-striper at RDU about the lack of signage in November, and instead of facing a somewhat friendly clerk, I got totally opposite behavior. He became very defensive, stating that I must have been wrong...

The kettle mindset is what the TSA depends upon for their very existence. Most infrequent flyers don't have a clue. 100% of their positive PR comes from people who don't want to think.

Please don't speak of something you know nothing about. ENTIRE Radiology Departments are NOT SHUT DOWN when an x-ray tube goes bad.

I personally have BLOWN an x-ray tube while completing an exam. And it usually happens towards the end of life of an x-ray tube and using too high of a technique for too long for exposure in my situation.

We simply shut that room down until it can be replaced. Rampant out of control x-rays are not being created when an x-ray tube goes bad.


So don't go scaring the FT community.


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Trvlr64, I don't think he meant it that way... he meant that there is a strong culture of safety in medicine, not referring to the specific scenario of a tube "blown".

For example (in my field that I'm intimately familiar with) if there were unexplained geiger counts in our nuclear cardiology lab, the whole lab would most definitely be shut down until the radioactive material spill was located and cleaned. We would most likely be fined and have JCAHO and OSHA headaches for years, even if the spill was not significant to human life (say, one dose of tracer spilled somewhere). We would be penalized and audited for the future as it shows a sloppiness that is inexcusable.

The TSA has not shown that they audit the performance of these machines, or even demonstrated real-world third party data regarding output measurements in production units with effects on living tissue. Systematic low-dose irradiation of humans is not something to be taken lightly.

Cases like this are why I'd prefer the WBI machines had a placard right at their entry with the following:

1. Wide border in international orange.
2. The title WBI MACHINE in all caps and large print.
3. A notice that going through the WBI machine is optional, and the pax may opt out and be subject to an intrusive pat-down.
4. A notice that WBI does NOT detect weapons or explosives, only anomalies, and any anomaly will result in an intrusive pat-down.
5. A list of DO NOT GO THROUGH THIS WBI MACHINE IF YOU: The list would start with "opt out" and "were persuaded in any way to opt back in."

Someone who is good at designing signs please PM me for the rest of my ideas.

They already exist! If you place a nice large one of these next to the machine, you might get a few more opt-outs.



Or even the standard one will do: