ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990                   TAG: 9005170324
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PLANE-BOMB DETECTOR UNRELIABLE, PANEL SAYS

During an April 21 test of a new bomb-detection machine at John F. Kennedy Airport, a passenger's checked suitcase selected at random set off alarms, but it was never hand-searched. Instead, it was placed back on a cart to be loaded onto a USAir flight, members of the Pan Am 103 commission said Wednesday.

"Of course, we know USAir didn't blow up, [but] I'd like to know what was in it," said commission chairman Ann McLaughlin.

The commission's report, released Tuesday, criticized the bomb-detecting thermal nuclear analysis machine as unreliable, with a high rate of false alarms and a less-than-perfect detection record. It recommended that the FAA defer its plan to require airlines to spend roughly $175 million to buy 150 of the machines. Each one costs $750,000 to $3 million, depending on the number purchased.

- The Washington Post 


 by CNB