HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – TSA officers at Honolulu’s Airport have screened over 5 million travelers so far this year.
Now, they’re debuting new technology that could bolster security — and speed up lines.
As technology advances, so do security systems at TSA checkpoints, including the ones at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
Nanea Vasta, TSA federal security for Hawaii, said there’s been an uptick in dangerous items being confiscated at airports across the Pacific during the busy summer travel season.
“We’ve had some great catches, and two grenades, as well as multiple firearms in the last couple of weeks,” said Vasta.
“We have seen an uptick in people bringing through their firearms loaded and unloaded.”
Just two days ago, two inert grenades were discovered at Hilo Airport.
Akito Fukushima, 41, was arrested.
“It looks absolutely like real grenades, live grenades,” said Lorie Dankers, of TSA Public Affairs. “Our officers can’t tell based on that x-ray image, what’s in that carry-on luggage so every item has to be treated like the real thing.”
“What happened is it shut down screening for an hour and 20 minutes, it required a law enforcement response, explosive specialists responded.”
Dankers said grenades were also recently detected at checkpoints in four other airports, including Montana, Utah, Pittsburgh and Guam.
One of the biggest resources in identifying these items are canines who are trained to sniff out any trace of explosives.
“They can work within the airport, they can work around large volumes of travelers, very busy environments,” said Dankers.
Before proceeding to carry-on security screening, there is an optional facial recognition system for identity verification.
There’s also Credential Authentication Technology.
You’ll only need to show your ID and boarding pass is not needed for those over the age of 17.
“All this takes less than two seconds for them to confirm the travelers eligible to come into the checkpoint and continue the process,” said Dankers.
“We have detected fraudulent documents with these new systems,” said Vasta.
TSA also has a new X-ray scanner, which creates a 3D image and gives officers a clearer view of what’s inside a carry-on.
But it’s not at every checkpoint so you may be instructed to either keep your electronics in your carry-on or take them out.
About 25,000 people are screened each day at Honolulu Airport and while things were moving swiftly, always be prepared for any scenario.
“Our officers are working; the lanes are staffed, but don’t be fooled by that you are going to need to arrive early and prepared,” said Dankers.
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