After hundreds of passenger complaints, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says it is modifying the way it conducts airport pat-down searches.
Under the new guidelines, screeners will not be able to pat-down a passenger’s breast area unless the handheld metal detector goes off or if there is an irregularity in the passenger’s clothing outline, said TSA spokesman Dave Steigman.
The TSA’s pat-downs were apparently a reaction to female suicide bombers who blew up two Russian jets in September by sneaking explosives onboard by concealing them under their clothing.
But hundreds of passengers — mostly woman — have since complained, saying the procedure was too invasive. Some even leveled charges of groping, though the TSA says screeners were just performing the job as directed.
Now, The Washington Post writes, “screeners will be directed…to only pat down the chest perimeter of females and not to touch women between their breasts unless they set off a hand-held metal detector in the chest area.:
In addition, only female screeners will now perform the procedure on female passengers.
Report by David Wilkening
