By Debbie Schlussel
Remember the “puffers,” the machines that used air blasts to detect explosives? I remember them because I had to go through one when flying out of Detroit Metro Airport. And it was annoying.
Well, not only were the machines annoying, they don’t work. Yes, the $36 million spent on designing this failed anti-terrorism device is yet another boondoggle and yet another waste of your tax money. Yet another example that government can’t do anything well or right.
Here’s a “stupid” question: Aren’t they supposed to test a device before they buy more than 200 of them, not after? Just asking.

A $36 million anti-terrorism program designed to detect bombs on airline passengers by shooting air blasts to dislodge explosive particles is being scuttled because the machines proved unreliable at airports.

The “puffer” machines – glass portals that passengers enter for checkpoint screening – are being removed after the Transportation Security Administration spent $6.2 million on maintenance since 2005. Removing them will cost nearly $1 million, TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said.
Problems emerged after the TSA bought 207 puffers for $30 million starting in 2004. Ninety-four were installed in 37 airports. The other 113 machines stayed in storage.
Dirt and humidity in airports led to frequent breakdowns, Payne said. The TSA has removed 60 puffers and will pull the rest but has no deadline. The puffers, costing $160,000 each, attempted to identify bomb residue on clothing. They were used as added screening on passengers who had gone through metal detectors.

Wrong. On several occasions–when departing from Detroit Metro Airport–that’s the ONLY screening device I went through.

Some of the machines had trouble detecting bombs, said Hasbrouck Miller, a vice president of puffer manufacturer Smiths Detection. “It was a torturous four years,” Miller said, describing repair efforts. “The TSA finally got tired of pursuing that angle and moved on to something else.”

Hmmm. . . not so “torturous” that Miller and Smiths Detection didn’t cash the multi-million dollar checks for their defective products.

As a replacement, the TSA is installing body scanners that create images of passengers through their clothing. The TSA plans to have 250 scanners next year, costing $170,000 each, its 2010 budget shows. . . .
Security consultant Rich Roth said the TSA faced pressure in 2004 to improve airport screening, and puffers were the best equipment available. “We knew it didn’t work 100%, but we still used it because it gave you an edge over terrorists,” Roth said.

They knew it didn’t work, but somehow this gave an “edge over terrorists”? You keep telling yourself that.
And wasting more tax money.