Be prepared to hold on to your skirts.
Federal officials have installed explosives trace detection machines at Denver International Airport to enhance security.
Passengers selected for the new screening will be directed to stand in the unit, and a glass door will be closed in front of them.
The machines work by blowing puffs of air over travelers while they stand in the portal.
In 20 seconds or less, the device collects the air sample and analyzes it for explosives residue, said Patrick Ahlstrom, the Transportation Security Administration’s federal security director at DIA.
“It gives us a new ability to test for chemicals on the person,” Ahlstrom said.
For a number of years, the security agency has used other explosives detection units to swab carry-on baggage for chemical residue.
Travelers who trigger an alarm will be subjected to additional screening, the TSA said.
Agency officials said the bursts of air are powerful enough to lift a skirt or loose shirt. So screeners will advise passengers to hold on to loose clothing if they don’t want an experience like Marilyn Monroe’s famous film scene in “The Seven Year Itch.”
The agency has installed one of the trace portals, known popularly as “puffer” machines, at each of the airport’s three checkpoints.
TSA employees have been testing the devices, and they may start using them to screen passengers as early as this week.
The trace portal “takes the place of some of the other security procedures used inside the checkpoint” and it could speed some travelers through security, Ahlstrom said.
He said DIA expects an extremely high level of passenger traffic this summer. Travelers should be prepared for security- screening wait times that stretch to 40 minutes on occasion, although the average wait time should be about 15 minutes, TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said.
If travelers clear the trace portal and metal detector without alarming either machine, they should be able to avoid secondary-screening procedures, such as a pat-down, according to the TSA.
The portals cost about $170,000 apiece, and the TSA has about 90 of the machines deployed at 35 airports nationwide. The agency expects to purchase 103 more of the machines by the end of the year.
The TSA accelerated the development and installation of the devices after in-flight explosions brought down two Russian airlines in 2004.
Authorities attributed the bomb blasts to passengers who apparently had boarded the planes with explosives concealed on their bodies.
But not all passengers will be screened by the devices. Travelers designated for additional security screening are expected to be routed at the checkpoint to the explosives portals.
Some passengers also will be randomly selected to stand in the machines, Ahlstrom said.
“We’ll attempt to keep it continuously used,” he said.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
