Aviation Security Research and Development at the Department of Homeland Security

Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu

I’d like to welcome everyone to this afternoon’s hearing on aviation security research and development at the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2001, aviation security has vastly improved. There are new policies in place to help protect passengers and aircraft, and aviation security professionals are better trained to detect dangerous items. Of course, technology plays a critical role. Significant advances in aviation security technologies have led to screening equipment that is faster and more reliable than the last generation, allowing Transportation Security Administration screeners to process passengers and baggage efficiently while still keeping prohibited items off planes. 

However, improvements still need to be made. Last year, a Government Accountability Office test of airport checkpoints found that explosive devices could be smuggled through undetected. There have also been recent news reports highlighting security failures, including a January 2008 CNN segment that featured a TSA employee slipping a bomb past screeners in a planned test. One of GAO’s key recommendations for dealing with these shortcomings was to invest in improving security technologies.

The Transportation Security Laboratory, or TSL, is at the forefront of developing the next generation of aviation security technology.  This laboratory, which was transferred to the DHS Science and Technology Directorate in FY 2006, serves as the nation’s key resource for transportation security-related research, development, testing, and evaluation. In addition to groundbreaking research on explosives, TSL develops and validates passenger and luggage screening technologies, certifies devices developed by private industry, and provides critical technical support to TSA for deployed technologies.  

Rigorous testing and evaluation are a crucial step towards ensuring that new technologies meet TSA’s technical needs. Currently, TSA works closely with the laboratory to develop test protocols and define criteria for success. But the security failures discovered by GAO and others illustrate the need to constantly update tests to ensure that technologies can deal with emerging threats. Technologies deployed before they are truly ready cement the perception that aviation security is nothing but theater.

Finally, we often forget that a technology is only as successful as the person operating it. This is especially true in the aviation security sector, where screeners must determine whether objects identified by screening technologies are truly dangerous. Additionally, passengers also play a key role in any technology’s performance and success. If passengers find screening technologies too cumbersome or too intrusive, the consequences can ripple across the entire aviation sector. TSL and TSA must work together to ensure that human factors are taken into consideration beginning in the first stages of technology development.

Dr. Hallowell has said in the past that she envisions a checkpoint of the future where no one has to empty their pockets, take off their shoes, or try to fit their toothpaste and deodorant into a tiny plastic bag in order to get on an airplane. The Committee applauds that goal, and I want to work with you and the TSA to ensure that next generation aviation security technologies are effective and efficient while meeting the needs of all screeners and passengers.

Witnesses

Panel

1 - Dr. Susan Hallowell
Director Transportation Security Laboratory Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Laboratory Department of Homeland Security
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3 - Dr. Jimmie Oxley
Co-director, DHS Center of Excellence for Explosives Detection, Mitigation, and Response Professor of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island Professor of Chemist
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4 - Dr. Colin Drury
Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Industrial Engineering State University of New York State University of New York
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2 - Mr. Adam Tsao
Chief of Staff, Office of Operational Process and Technology Transportation Security Administration Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Admi
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