In some airports where the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed machines that peer beneath a person’s clothing to scan for threats, the agency has hardly used the body imagers despite costing potentially several millions of dollars to deploy and operate, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official.
Moreover, not using the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines more frequently limits their security benefit, Stephen Lord, director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues with GAO, told a joint hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform, and Transportation Committees on Monday.
In an analysis of TSA’s utilization data of its AIT systems that was collected between March 2010 and February 2011, Lord said in his prepared remarks some of the units were used fewer than 5 percent of the days they were available and others were used fewer than 30 percent of the days they were available.
Lord also said that at one airport terminal where TSA deployed three AIT systems, two of the units were barely used as the terminal handles one flight a day of about 230 passengers. Given the roughly $250,000 per unit cost to purchase and install the systems combined with the $63,000 average annual salary for each of the five Transportation Security Officers required to operate the AITs, GAO estimates that the total costs associated with the machines for the first year were several million dollars.
“The limited use of some of these machines may indicate that there was not a clear need for them at the time they were acquired at the locations in which they were deployed,” Lord’s statement said.
The GAO analysis was contained in a classified report sent to Congress in January. Lord’s testimony was based on the report after it was vetted by TSA to eliminate the release of classified information.
Based on GAO’s recommendations and those of the DHS Inspector General, since February 2011, TSA has improved its utilization of AIT systems by 200 percent, Chris McLaughlin, assistant administrator for Security Operations at TSA, testified at the hearing.
TSA has deployed about 640 AIT units to 165 airports. The agency buys the systems from two manufacturers, L-3 Communications [LLL] and OSI Systems [OSIS].
In response to the recent GAO findings, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), a member of the committee, on Monday requested a new audit by the government watchdog to further review the AIT utilization.