Pilots raise body scanner concerns

by CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

June 1st 2012

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More airports around the world are introducing full-body scanners to screen departing passengers. However, some airline employees are concerned there could be an impact on the health of staff who have to regularly walk through the scanners. Read More »

Virgin Australia: its pilots’ union have called for a government review on full-body scanners

In Australia, where plans are well advanced to introduce scanners at airports, pilots from the Virgin Australia group have called on government for a full-scale review of their use.

“The Australian government has to understand and prioritize the very real health concerns of pilots, cabin crew and other airport staff with the imminent introduction of full-body scanners,” said Simon O’Hara, executive director of the Virgin Pilots Association (VIPA).

“Our members believe that if the health sector has strict limits on workers’ time near x-ray machines then the responsible position would be for the federal government to adapt these regulations and accept that similar considerations should be adopted with the introduction of full-body scanners at airports”.

The union has lodged a submission to the Australian government’s Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee outlining a range of concerns about full-body scanners.

It said the deployment of the scanners, particularly in the U.S., had been so rapid that research into the health effects associated with the equipment had not kept up.

O’Hara said VIPA was concerned “full-body scanning machines were introduced for political reasons rather than for sound security reasons. There was little, if any, consultation with user groups, such as pilot associations about the introduction of the full body scanners”.

“Despite this, VIPA is prepared to work with government should it wish to develop an airport security system that the nation can have confidence in and does not affect the dignity and health of its citizens,” he added.

Until a full review is conducted VIPA wants pilots, cabin crew and other regular airport workers exempted from using full body scanners. “Instead a separate, private area should be made available for crews to pass through a metal detector and have a pat-down should the detector’s alarm sound,” he said.