WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced the deployment of three Reveal brand Explosives Detection Systems (EDS) for screening checked baggage at Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) in Atlantic City, N.J. The Reveal CT-80 machines, which are smaller in size and cost less than half the other EDS machines currently in use at commercial airports nationwide, will augment the other forms of explosives detection equipment that have been in place at ACY since 2002.
"We're very pleased to have additional equipment on hand to help us expand our explosives detection capabilities and increase our checked baggage screening efficiency," said Ron Facciponti, TSA's Acting Federal Security Director at ACY. "This new technology is yet another tool available to our Transportation Security Officers to help them identify dangerous items and keep the traveling public safe."
In 2005, TSA deployed eight Reveal machines for operational field testing and evaluation at three airports: Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (Miss.), Newark Liberty International Airport (N.J.) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (N.Y.). The field tests lasted from 30 to 45 days at each airport and provided TSA with the opportunity to evaluate the machine's effectiveness in an airport environment as well as its impact on security and customer service.
Following the success of the pilot program, TSA purchased 73 Reveal machines at a cost of $24.8 million with the goal of deploying the equipment to small- and medium-sized airports during the first half of 2006. In addition to ACY, 22 other airports are scheduled to receive Reveal equipment this year. Some of the airports scheduled to receive Reveal systems include Albany, N.Y.; Billings, Mont.; Norfolk, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; Monterey, Calif.; Fairbanks, Alaska; and Bangor, Maine.
Reveal EDS machines were certified in December 2004 by TSA's Transportation Security Laboratory in Atlantic City, N.J. Reveal is the third company to have its explosives detection equipment certified by TSA for screening checked baggage at the nation's airports.
