Aircraft Cargo Screening Program to Begin at Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky Airport

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin testing air cargo screening technologies this spring at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) as part of the department's previously announced $30 million Air Cargo Explosives Detection Pilot Program (ACEDPP). The CVG pilot program is designed to test the screening of significant amounts of cargo within an air cargo facility and will focus on areas to include assessing the flow and speed of cargo screening.

The ACEDPP was launched in June 2006 and is currently conducting pilot programs at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Testing of this nature will provide critical knowledge to help the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) make future decisions on air cargo and assist in technological research and development planning for the nation's air cargo security infrastructure. DHS is interested in data that illustrates economic and operational impacts to air carriers from enhanced screening levels. Deployed technology at SFO includes x-ray systems, explosive trace detectors, and automated explosives detection systems. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the focus is on detecting hidden intruders and stowaways.

While DHS expects new ideas to emerge from the testing to bring about future improvements, some advancements have already been made. As part of its advanced air cargo research and development program, DHS is funding the development of new systems that can screen entire pallets to look for explosives.

ACEDPP is a DHS-collaboration between the Science and Technology directorate and TSA. In addition to local airport and TSA personnel, organizations involved in the tests are the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Transportation Security Laboratory.