New Scanner May End Aviation Liquid Restrictions

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A new machine, capable of identifying the chemical composition of liquids sealed within non-metallic containers without opening them, has been developed by Cobalt Light Systems.

The Insight100 should enable airports to remove the existing hand-luggage liquid ban through phased implementation over the next two years.

According t o HLS News Wire system works by combining spectroscopy with advanced algorithms to distinguish between the container and its contents, the technology is able to identify the chemical composition in seconds, and with greater reliability than any other existing system.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The hand luggage liquid restrictions were introduced in 2006 following what officials described as a threat from liquid explosives. Passengers boarding planes in EU countries are currently allowed to carry within their hand luggage liquids in containers no more than 100ml in capacity. The Insight100 system can analyze bottles up to three liters, in order to determine whether they contain anything considered a threat, without having to open them.

The machine shines a laser at the container, and the spectrum of light returned is then cross-checked against those collated on a library of threats. The technology has already been deployed in eight of the top ten EU airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, and a total of sixty-five airports in Europe have introduced the system since January 2014.