Airport security facilities open for peek, briefly ....Journalists get a chance to see behind-the-scenes improvements Glenn Bohn Vancouver Sun Thursday, February 27, 2003 Journalists were offered a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse Wednesday of the technology used at Vancouver International Airport to detect weapons, explosives and other contraband. The tour began in a restricted zone that air travellers never see, a warehouse-like area at the tarmac level of the terminal in which checked luggage can be examined before it is placed in the belly of a plane. At YVR, luggage can be put through an advanced technology x-ray machine, then a CT scan machine, similar to those found in hospitals, if the luggage is deemed a potential security risk. If the three-dimensional image created by the CT scan still doesn't allay the screening officer's concerns, officials can obtain a passenger's consent to open the luggage. (Notices in passenger areas state that passengers who refuse to allow luggage to be inspected can be denied access to aircraft.) Mark Duncan, vice president of the federal government's new Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, said the procedure has been working well, and all the passengers who have been asked have agreed to inspections. There's a new room with a closed circuit video link to the passenger area, so passengers can watch on a video screen as authorities open and inspect their luggage. During this examination, another machine is used to detect minute traces of explosives with a cloth swab, the swab travellers see when screeners swipe the cloth across a laptop computer and other carry-on luggage. When the tour ended more than an hour later, CATSA president Jacques Duchesneau wouldn't say what percentage of checked baggage is being screened at YVR. However, Duchesneau pledged that 100 per cent of checked luggage would be screened in Canada by January, 2006, a date set by an international agreement. "What you saw today was further proof of the government of Canada's commitment to improve air security in Canada," the former Montreal police chief said. The tour began with a brief bus ride, during which public relations people who work for the Vancouver International Airport Authority and CATSA, a federal Crown corporation, advised photographers to take plenty of pictures and make plenty of copies, because they may not be given the same opportunity again. Several dozen news media representatives were dropped at the "hold baggage screening area," where an unspecified percentage of checked luggage is examined. Duct tape temporarily covered brand names on machines, so the public wouldn't be able to find out either their cost or their technical specifications. Officials on the tour would reveal only that the most expensive machine at YVR -- the CT scan machine, which is about two metres high and four metres long -- costs about $2 million, while the least expensive machine -- the microwave-oven-sized machine that detects explosives -- costs about $50,000. Nor would they disclose how many of the machines were in the hold baggage screening area. Since last April, the federal government has made air travellers pay airport security fees, a new tax as high as $24 for international flights. The money goes into general revenue and is not dedicated to CATSA. The airport authority estimates passengers going through YVR will have paid $70 million to $80 million in those taxes by this April. Duchesneau wouldn't say how much money has now been invested at YVR for enhanced security, citing a federal law that prohibits CATSA from revealing sensitive security information. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.dbombo.net/muddyangels/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************