DOT expects baggage screeners to be out of view WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Checked bags should be screened for explosives as they= =20 travel from the ticket counter to the airplane, the head of the=20 Transportation Security Administration says. John Magaw called for=20 renovating airports to make room for the minivan-sized explosive detection= =20 machines in areas where bags now are sorted before being loaded onto=20 planes. "That's the goal of most airports," Magaw said Monday. "When you go= =20 up and check your bag, it goes on the conveyer belt and is then examined=20 before it goes on the plane. It's the most economical and most logical way= =20 of doing it." The inspections would be done without the passengers=20 watching, though a traveler could be called if the machine's alarm goes off= =20 and the bag needs to be opened and searched by hand, officials said. "The=20 process of explosive detection screening then becomes invisible to the=20 passenger," said Gina Marie Lindsay, managing director of Seattle-Tacoma=20 International Airport, which handles 27 million passengers a year. "It does= =20 not add to the congestion of the check-in and passenger screening process.= =20 It just becomes part of the normal process of transferring the baggage from= =20 the ticket counter to the airplane." The security agency faces a Dec. 31 deadline for screening all checked bags= =20 with explosive detection machines. Airport executives say they can't finish= =20 the renovations to house the equipment in time, and some have asked the=20 Transportation Department to push Congress to relax the deadline. Magaw,=20 the undersecretary for transportation security, reiterated Monday that the= =20 timetable would be followed. Until the renovations are done, he said, some= =20 airports would have explosive detection machines near check-in counters and= =20 others would use smaller equipment that finds traces of explosives.=20 Lindsay, one of 39 airport executives signing a letter asking to extend the= =20 deadline, said trying to meet the timetable would take time and money away= =20 from the efforts to renovate baggage areas for the explosive detection=20 machines. "We should be focused on getting that solution in place as fast=20 as possible and not divert attention to meet a deadline by the end of the=20 year," Lindsay said. Not everyone supports Magaw's solution. The head of an= =20 advocacy group questioned the idea of checking baggage away from=20 passengers. "When the bags are checked out of the sight of passengers, the= =20 TSA might be exposed to claims that items were stolen, broken or lost in=20 the process," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers=20 Association. Lindsay said passengers could be notified at the gate that=20 their bags needed to be inspected and could be taken to an area to watch=20 security employees go through their luggage. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Robbie Greenidge) http://www.steeldrumband.net/greenidge/ (Robert Greenidge - Pan Arranger/Composer/Player) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************