Andrzej Jeziorski/FRANKFURT

US airport-security-equipment manufacturers InVision and EG&G Astrophysics have joined forces to develop a high-throughput, automated-screening system for hold baggage.

According to InVision, the TSS 2000 is the only security system which screens "-all hold baggage, including oversized bags". The system combines InVision's US CTX technology for explosives detection with EG&G's Z-scan.

Bags first enter one of several parallel Z-scan devices, which X-ray luggage from above and from the side, automatically identifying suspected threats.

In high-flow periods, bags identified as safe can bypass the next level of detection to increase throughput, but InVision says that the system aims to put as many bags as possible through the second level of detection - InVision's new CTX 5500 DS.

The CTX system combines computed tomography with X-ray imaging, thoroughly comparing bag contents with a database of explosive parameters. Bags which remain suspicious are passed on to a second CTX device, monitored by one operator, with over-sized luggage passing through a separate Z-scan device, controlled by another operator. No further personnel are required to keep the system running.

EG&G has recently won a $1 million contract from the UK's Manchester Airport for the installation of three Z-scan 7 systems and one Linescan 237 X-ray screening system, starting in November. Manchester operates ten Z-scans, and each of the new devices can process up to 1,200 bags/h.

Source: Flight International