Originally Posted by
Nomoresteerage
It still amazes me that will all the advancements in technology over the last 35 years (my first flight) that screening selection is still reliant on a person to decide if something is suspect or not. Surely technology would be quicker and also able to asses in 3D as it is a binary decision whether to pull a bag or not - even if it flagged up more bags for secondary screening.
Apparently not, there are just too many variables. Sometimes you cannot better the human eye/brain combination.
We have been pulled up for carrying bars of soap which, we were told, looks very suspicious. On another occasion it was instant coffee granules in sachets.
Security staff at MAN are under great pressure not to miss anything suspicious, get it wrong a couple of times and you are in fear of the consequences. They also have to undergo testing on a regular basis where they monitor the x-ray screen and also complete a test questionnaire. Anything less that 80% is a fail and will result in a opportunity to pass a second test, fail that and it's retraining or job reallocation to a Security Ambassador on less pay. Also X-ray screeners are monitored in whats called the matrix room, where they can also see the x-ray image and check if the operator has missed anything. The whole security area is also closely monitored by CCTV, so if anyone does make a mistake it will be seen and recorded.
What all this pressure does is result in the security staff becoming over cautious to avoid the consequences of missing anything. It's a high pressure job, often working long 12 hour shifts, so please make some allowance next time you are there.
I believe there are newer versions of the x-ray machines used at MAN which do not require liquids to be removed from baggage, as in some US airports. The cost will be astronomical but maybe some day they will be upgraded.