Does a pax' girth affect the metal detector's likelihood of alerting?

What about profiling people of size for secondary. (If such sharing does not violate state secrets.)

If you brush against the side of the WTMD as you pass through it, regardless of your size, it will alarm.

Spiff, you should also add that if the TSA "Officer" taps the side of the WMTD as you pass, which they often do if they don't like your demeanor, it will also alarm.

I'd stop and do it again, calling for the supervisor myself if the TSA person tried to prevent me from doing a "clean" pass.

On the subject of girth, I know the airlines recently updated their flight load calculator to increase the average weight of an adult...

Indeed, the small 30 seat Saabs that get flown can't hold 30 passengers anymore...

But I digress... Did you rease the article on MRI machines and wonder if we'll have to retool our metal detectors to become extra wide?

A fatty won't set off the machine, it depends on how hard and forceful the "brush" is.

Sorry, there is plenty of documented evidence and a bajillion more anecdotal events posted here that say this is not correct.

I am a tall guy with wide shoulders - I have to walk through with my hands glued to the side of my thighs to make it through without setting off the scanner. 6'4" 225# with a 36" waist. I'd like to see someone a little larger in other places make it through without setting off the scanner. When a very slight brush of my hairy knuckles do it, what about a little more heft from a cheek or something else?

I'm not as tall, but I'm a bit "rounder" than you and make it thru with no trouble.

Superguy,
I make it through fine, but that's because I am extra careful about not touching the scanner with the back of my hands. I used to set those buggers off nearly every time just by brushing it. I have watched many people of size set it off by not going straight through. Have to say it is tourists 100% of the time by the looks of what they are carrying, so not FFers.

I brush the machine all the time - hell, I like to check to see how much force it actually takes before you set off the machine...

Perhaps where those circular reflecting markers are will cause the machine to automatically ring off, but the Magnometers will not automatically ring off at the slightlest contact...

deleted

All depends on various factors. For example, at one terminal, the WTMDs are bolted to the floor and not bolted down at another. The ones that are not bolted down are more susceptible to vibrations that result from bumping into the machine.

Another factor is the width of the body as you walk through. A thinner person wearing a metallic wristwatch, for instance, may not necessarily trigger the alarm on the WTMD. However, a person with a wider build may trigger the alarm because the watch is now passing much closer to the sensors located along the walls of the WTMD. This isn't really a big thing. In this instance, there may be other metallic items that accumulate to the point where the watch is now a factor between alarming and not alarming the WTMD.

It is very difficult to strip yourself down to the point where you have absolutely nothing metallic on your body.

Thanks for the responses.

I get a lot of secondary, just curious if girth was part of the profile.

Perhaps pilots can get away with it but I can't. I used to do this to avoid touching the sides, figuring one less false alarm will be one less secondary in my lifetime. A really nice TSA guy asked why I walked that way, understood my reason, did not secondary, and then was nice enough to suggest not doing so in the future to save my self trouble, know what I mean?, which I interpret to mean it is a suspicious behavior they look for. Either that or they hate a knowledgeable customer who knows how their toys work. Only FTers and real terrorists know about that touching thing, right? No law abiding citizen would want to know about how a WTMD works, right comrade? A third grader can do a google on "WTMD" for a science report, but apparently TSA does not know about google yet.

I assume the SSI approved walk, no scooting, is the best imitiation of a once a decade sheeple vacation flyer who is bumbling around like a lost puppy who has never been thru the maze before and is clueless about the process. Ignorance is power as seen by the TSA. Sigh.

I'm curious how long it's been since you've flown. The old SOP stated that you had to walk a certain way. That was several editions and several years ago. With the new Binford 10,000 superduper-enhanced Walk-thru-Metal Detector, we are told that it doesn't matter how a person walks through, the WTMD will do its job. The only rules that apply is that you can't run, skip or drag your feet through. However, you may have your hands in your pocket, covering your vitals or above your head. Doesn't matter.

I use the pilot shift whenever I pass through the WTMD. Even though I've been putting on some weight lately (age...what a bi*.h), my problem has always been my shoulders. I've got some pretty broad shoulders and will, on occasion, brush the side of the WTMD. So I use the pilot method of entry, one arm forward, one arm back, this places my shoulders at an angle, and I pass right through.

But if you can't scoot or drag, then it Does matter how you walk through.

It has a name. The "pilot shift". Its official. I can't wait to drop that name to the next screener I try it on.

I hit the WTMD wall and found it set off the alarm around 2002 or 2003. From that point till about mid-2005 I went through diagonal. It was about mid 2005 IIRC I was questioned about walking diagonal. Perhaps they did not have the new Binford, or their new SSI edition got lost in the mail. Shoulda used Fed Ex.

Since then I walk through square and careful not to touch. In the past year knock wood I have not alarmed or been secondaried or SSSSed or terminal dumped in the US, so I have had good TSA experiences. My only "extra TSA experience" was a very tokenly done 30 second shoe shine at MDW for refusing to take my 15/16 inch heeled shoes off.

OTOH, it was not TSA, but like many pax report here, in FRA I got the works at both checkpoints. But I survived and made it home.