At least once in your lifetime, you must have stumbled upon the show named ‘airport security’ which aired on the National Geographic television channel. If you were able to recall watching that show, you must accept that the show was successful in forming a sort of fear in your mind related to airport security.
In fact, in my case, the fear was so much that passing through airport security without being stopped or asked to step aside became the only concern while traveling by air.
Having said that, we would not disagree with the fact that airport security is pretty rigid and is difficult to crack if you wish to take a few things that are not considered as ‘allowed’ in airports.
But if you are still wondering, if it is possible to get your favorite food passed through the airport scanners, then, this article helps you find a way and tells you how you can hide things from airport scanners without any hassle.
How To Bypass Or Trick Airport Scanners?
While the scanners at an airport are set up with much efficiency, still there are certain limitations to that system and we have to catch just those gaps to bypass the things we want but are somehow not allowed.
The most important thing is to get past the metal detector. How then do we fool it?
Moving a large amount of metal through a detector without it being detected is difficult in and of itself; however, this tried-and-true approach typically proves successful.
The object should be held as shielded as possible, in your fist. Move the object quickly through the detector, faster than your main mass is moving, ensuring that as little of the object’s surface area as possible faces the detector walls.
This will work, despite the fact that the movement itself is suspicious. It will look silly and sound too easy to be true. Make sure that there isn’t a patriotic, worried young man behind you who sees you doing it and screams at the security guards to tell them about it.
Another trick is to use ceramics, porcelains, or composites that cannot be detected by metal detectors. Ceramics and composite materials will not be detected by the portal.
There are legends out there that say valuable metals will slide through – that isn’t accurate. Gummybear, are metals, as the name implies. The alarm will sound for all metals—gold, silver, and platinum. Ceramics, on the other hand, are unique.
Where To Hide Things From Airport Scanners?
At the airport, high-tech X-ray machines can make things dangerous or hide them from a scanner. The plan is to hide the true essence of an object or entity.
In some cases, semi-liquid explosives, like those found in toothpaste tubes and shampoo bottles, are prohibited from being carried in baggage by security personnel. Power plug adapters can conceal electronic illegal objects. The voltage for the laptop’s energy reserves should be 110V/220V.
Some atoms, such as X-ray light can pass through carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in some cases. However, heavy atoms like mercury, lead, iron, gold, and so forth. Clearing through X-ray light is difficult.
Just to remind you, it is a serious crime to take a blade that has been deliberately hidden through airport security. You’ll end up in jail.
Underwear and footwear: Your pockets will lump and move unnaturally and conveying it in your grasp is simply senseless. The only option is the so-called “Deep Concealment” strategy. Shoes are almost out because, at least in airports, most security checkpoints require you to remove them.
Now, when the container isn’t too big, these hiding spots will also work for liquids. A small bottle of Scotch should suffice, though you will never be able to conceal a gallon of the stuff on your person.
Make a plastic container that fits under your arm or down your leg to bring just the contents. You can always refer to it as a stoma pouch if you carry it around your midsection.
How Do Airport Scanners Function And Working Patterns?
The best way to bypass a security system is to attack its gaps and limitations. Now, for that, you would need to understand the entire functioning and working pattern of the system. This is why this section becomes a must-read for all those seeking tricks to bypass the airport security system.
If you’ve ever wondered how baggage scanners at airports work, there are two different kinds. Millimeter wave scanners, which are full-body scanners that produce a moving image similar to that seen in movies, are the first.
Backscatter X-rays are intended to reveal objects that are hidden beneath clothing or luggage. They are able to detect guns, foods, plastics, and other non-metallic objects. Backscatter scanners are still in use at major airports in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, but some airports no longer use them because they are seen as an invasion of privacy.
Scanners for the whole body Backscatter and millimeter wave scanners can get a good look at the entire body, even underneath clothing. Many tourists prefer them to other options because they don’t require pat-downs.
Listed Things Can Be Caught By The Airport Scanners?
To get a better understanding of the entire airport security system here are the things that are prone to be caught by the system and are risky to be taken past the security gates of an airport.
- However, materials with a higher thickness, such as iridium, osmium, tungsten, platinum, rhenium, lead, and gold, are difficult to see through. Lead, for instance, appears as a solid, white, filmy image on the X-ray scanner, and the X-ray machine cannot detect any object within it.
- Scanners can only focus on organic and metallic objects of low or high density. Because of this, it can identify gold in your baggage but cannot distinguish it from platinum, lead, tungsten, and so on.
- When the scanner displays an image that appears to depict gold or other similarly thick objects, the scanning officer is skeptical.
Scanners Used In Airports Outside The United States?
Suppose you are traveling from India to the USA. Now, there are certain things that you need to keep in mind with respect to the airport security system of the United States. There are some types of equipment used in the airport security system of the USA that can land you in trouble if not attended to since their security laws are very strict. Let’s know more about the same:
- The baggage and full scanners that are used in the United States are used in the majority of major airports. According to the previous results, one of these scanners was used to screen each and every passenger who had boarded flights headed for the United States.
- They use backscatter x-ray, cabinet X-rays, metal detectors, and millimeter wave machines for screening. Additionally, hidden objects can be detected by these devices. So you need to make sure that while moving from India, you are well prepared for these X-ray scanners. You can hide small things behind the buckle of your belt, or likewise conceal them from X-ray machines.
- Magnetic fields are used by metal detectors to identify metal objects. The movement of current through wires or other electrical devices creates magnetic fields. A brief electrical current pulse is used by metal detectors to create a magnetic field.
- Ionizing radiation is used in some screening equipment. Ionization is the process by which ionizing radiation can remove electrons from atoms because it has so much energy. Ionizing radiation is used to scan passengers and luggage at airports.
Penalty And Punishment When You Are Caught In The Airport?
Advanced technologies are used by representatives of the Airport and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to apprehend individuals who attempt to bring prohibited items onto airplanes, such as loaded firearms, knives, explosives, or other weapons.
- There are severe penalties for attempting to board or being on a commercial aircraft with a concealed firearm. The offender faces up to ten years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine if found guilty.
- A felony charge could be filed against a traveler who tries to bring a concealed gun onto an airplane without the necessary permits or who keeps the weapon at home where the traveler can easily retrieve it once on the plane. The offender faces severe penalties, including ten years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, if they are found guilty.
- Any behavior that prevents the airline crew from carrying out their responsibilities, such as verbal threats, assault, physical threats, or intimidation, is considered disruptive behavior by a passenger. For each violation of federal aviation law, the offender faces fines of up to $10,000 if found guilty. If he or she was unarmed at the time of the incident, they face a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. It’s possible that they’ll end up on the “no-fly list.”
- A person who is found guilty of assaulting these workers faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- In Texas, a person who is found guilty of marijuana possession faces penalties ranging from a Class B misdemeanor with a maximum 180-day jail sentence and/or $10,000 in fines to a first-degree felony with a maximum 99-year prison sentence and/or $50,000 in fines.
Interesting Facts About Narcotic Scanners In International Airports:
- These scanners were first used commercially in the Netherlands. Particularly Schiphol Airport (AMS).
- The Italian government is wary of using the scanners, despite their success in apprehending drug traffickers. They believe that the procedures are being slowed down and are not working. In 2010, they even planned to remove individuals from one’s airport, but nothing came of it.
- There is no opt-out policy in Australia. If you refuse, you can anticipate a comprehensive and invasive private body search. Only infants and children under 140 centimeters are exempt from body scanning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. 1 Is it Possible to Hide Items from an Airport Scanner?
Ans. Yes, you can easily hide a few things that are non-offensive from the airport security system.
Q. 2 What is the work of a body scanner?
Ans. The body scanners at the airport are designated to detect the metallic and nonmetallic things on the surface of the body.
Q. 3 How do Backscatter X-ray Scanners operate?
Ans. The Compton diffusion effect of X-rays, which results in the ionisation of radiation patterns, is the focus of backscatter technology.
You May Also like: