Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration, said in an interview last week that in a year, the organization and its foreign counterparts would be in a position to relax the restrictions on liquids.
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The X-ray machines capable of detecting liquids used in bomb making are already in widespread use, but the software for the detection is still being tested. Six Hundred of these machines will be deployed by the end of the year, which another three hundred by the end of next. The issue they are working on is whether or not the new machines will be accurate enough to detect liquid threats inside bags. Likely the quantity will be relaxed first, with liquids being separated from luggage for checking.
We’re not sure we believe the above. But we’re not sure we ever took the rationale behind the liquid ban seriously either. As with many things, we’ll believe the ban is over when we see it.
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