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DAYTON — The government plans a software upgrade next week in body-scanning machines at Dayton International Airport so that transportation security officers will see generic body images, not the naked outlines that have prompted complaints from travelers.
Plans call for starting the software upgrades for the Dayton airport’s three scanning machines on Monday and training the Transportation Security Administration officers on all work shifts, which could take several days to complete, said John Kennedy, federal security director at the airport.
Any potential threat items detected are depicted by the software as yellow shadows on a generic outline of a person, according to the TSA.
If no potential threat is detected, an “OK” appears on the monitor with no outline.
Passengers will see the same image that the TSA officer sees, federal officials said.
The elimination of passenger-specific body images will also eliminate the need to have a second TSA officer view the image in a separate room, as well as the need for those officers to communicate wirelessly, TSA spokesman Jim Fotenos said Thursday.
That could help speed up lines at security checkpoints, although TSA officials say they are seeing more carry-on bags, which slow checkpoint processing, as airlines charge fees for checking luggage into onboard baggage transport.
The TSA has already installed similar scanner software upgrades at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Toledo Express Airport. The Cincinnati and Columbus airports, which use a different scanning technology, will have to wait for the upgrades until at least this fall when a new version of the upgrade for their machines is tested, TSA officials said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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