Idaho Falls airport speeds up screening for oversized bags

Traveling just became a little easier at Idaho Falls Regional Airport. This month the TSA introduced new technology to the airport that makes it possible to screen oversized items like skis and golf clubs.

The items are placed on a conveyor belt and fed through the machine, which then takes X-ray images.

“There’s an algorithm in there that determines whether or not there’s…explosives in there,” said Andrew Coose, the TSA’s federal security director for Idaho. “If there is, it’ll place a bounty box around whatever it is and then our folks will take a look at that.”

If there are no explosives, the bag gets rushed through and quickly loaded onto the plane–a far cry from the drawn out bag-checking rituals practiced a few years ago.

“Every single bag that was checked…out of Idaho Falls had to be lifted up onto a table, opened up and had to be gone through with our explosive detection,” said Coose.

The airport has used this technology for regular-sized items since 2009, but it’s not until this month that they were able to check oversized items this way.

“In the winter time, the folks that do have skis and snowboards, and in the summer time the folks that have golf bags, their check-in time will be streamlined,” said Craig Davis, aviation director of the airport.

“This is a common piece of equipment at ski resort-type airports,” said Coose. “Airports in Colorado, like Aspen, will have this type of equipment. Jackson will have this type of equipment and now Idaho Falls has it.”