Dutch to Use Full-Body Scanners on Flights to U.S.

2 years ago

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Morning Editor

U.S.-bound passengers at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport will soon have to pass through body scanners before boarding planes, officials in Holland said on Wednesday. According to CNN, the scanners will be in place within three weeks.

The move comes in the wake of an attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet headed for Detroit on Christmas Day. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is accused of trying to ignite explosives he had concealed in his underwear. The measures in place at Schiphol when Abdulmutallab boarded Flight 253 included metal detectors and X-ray machines, which cannot detect the explosive material he was allegedly carrying.

Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst said at a news conference that the scanners will be permanent at Schiphol, and any passengers who do not go through them will be body-searched. As for privacy concerns -- namely that the scanners could pick up private features of a person's body -- ter Horst said the scan results will first go through a computer, which would alert security personnel of anything suspicious.

Tagged: daily guidance, DailyGuidance, Guusje ter Horst, GuusjeTerHorst, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, UmarFaroukAbdulmutallab

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