Part of a general tightening of air security, the TSA has instituted a new type of passenger pat-down following the revelation of a terrorist plot last month to blow up cargo planes en route to the United States. Should a full-body scanning machine detect something unusual or a passenger refuse to pass the machine—which is now in use at the three main Washington region airports—an officer will conduct a more personal search.
The tests often entail the touching of breasts and genitalia as part of intrusive searches meant to identify weapons and suspicious objects. Aviation security officials report that the searches, carried out by TSA security agents of the same sex as the passenger, involve a sliding hand motion on areas of the body where a lesser touch was used prior. The parts of the body under contact have not changed.
"There's nothing punitive about it; it just makes good security sense," the TSA posted on its blog.