Washington – Air travelers should not expect authorities to ease restrictions on gels and liquids in carry-on luggage until sometime next year when new technology may give screeners the ability to more easily spot potential explosives in bags, according to federal security officials who are nearing the one-year anniversary of the rules.
“I don’t want to raise expectations,” said Kip Hawley, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. “It would be a fair shot that we could get something done after Labor Day of next year, but we are not going to rush it.”
Authorities enacted the bans in August after British police said they uncovered a plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid explosives. The TSA later eased the restrictions to allow small amounts of liquid and gel toiletries in carry-on bags, but many travelers still complain about the cumbersome rules that force them to check more bags.
Some in Congress complain that federal officials are taking too long to make use of new technology that might help counter liquid explosives.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he has asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the government’s development of technology.
Hawley and other TSA officials said the key to easing the ban would be the deployment of high-tech X-ray machines that would provide screeners with 3-D images of the contents of luggage, helping them determine the type of liquid in a bottle.
Authorities are testing more futuristic options, including X-ray machines that can see through clothing, he said, and a device that can scan radiation emitted from passengers and determine whether they might have a bomb strapped under their clothing.
