The US Transportation Security Administration is to buy 100
shoe-scanning machines to use in airports.
The machines, which find metal weapons and explosives in
shoes, didn't pass muster in tests three years ago but
developers of the latest generation of the machines promise
better results.
Letting travellers keep their shoes on "would help
checkpoints run more smoothly and allow our officers to focus
on other aspects of security," TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne
said.
The TSA began forcing some passengers to remove their shoes
in late 2001 after Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives in
his boots on a US-bound flight.
Shoe removal became mandatory in 2006 after a foiled plot to
blow up US-bound planes with liquid explosives.
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