TSA Testing Of CT Scans On Carry-on Bags May Alleviate Need For Laptop Ban

The Transportation Security Administration is testing whether CT scanning of carry-on bags could better detect contraband, a move that could alleviate the need for a much talked about and largely dreaded European laptop ban.

The computed tomography (CT) scanner would give TSA officers a 3D view of bags that can be rotated. Such images are far more detailed than the simpler ones from standard X-ray scanners, the TSA said.

The Department of Homeland Security banned laptops and other electronics larger than cellphones in March in carry-on bags of flights from 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa. The order came in response to intelligence that the Islamic State developed explosives that resembled laptop batteries, but that would still allow the electronic devices to turn on.

John Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, has since been conferring with counterparts in Europe and Asia about a potential expansion of the ban to flights from those regions. Read more at USA TODAY.

{Matzav}