London, Dec 21: A new research has questioned airport security
screening measures after September 11th, arguing that there is no
evidence that the huge amounts of money spent on them have ensured
safety to passengers traveling by air.

The research has been featured in the Christmas issue of the BMJ (British Medical Journal).

The research team reviewed evidence for the effectiveness of airport
security screening measures, comparing it to the evidence required by
the UK National Screening Committee criteria to justify medical
screening programmes.

Despite worldwide airport protection costing an estimated $5.6 billion
every year, they found no comprehensive studies evaluating the
effectiveness of passenger or hand luggage x-ray screening, metal
detectors or explosive detection devices. There was also no clear
evidence of testing accuracy.

“Most screening programmes around the world are closely evaluated and
heavily regulated before implementation. They rely on sound scientific
and cost-benefit evidence before they are put into practice, ” said
Eleni Linos. “Is airport security screening an exception, ” he
questioned.

Accoring to the researchers, “While there may be other benefits to
rigorous airport screening, the absence of publicly available evidence
to satisfy even the most basic criteria of a good screening programme
concerns us. ”

Though the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) defends its
measures by reporting that more than 13 million prohibited items were
intercepted in one year, the authors of the new research argue that
there is no way of knowing what proportion of these items would have
led to serious harm.

All these facts have led the researchers to call for airport security screening to be open to public and academic debate.

“Rigorously evaluating the current system is only the first step for
building a future airport security programme that is more
user-friendly, cost-effective and, ultimately, protects passengers from
realistic threats, ” the research team concludes. (ANI)