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New technology making Las Vegas airport security more efficient

Posted at 7:12 PM, Aug 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-31 22:59:55-04

Going through security at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has a new look.

Terminal 3 is testing out automated screening that's meant to relieve some travel headaches.

Some of the technology allows passengers to prevent getting stuck behind someone slow by having several open spaces to put a bin of items onto a conveyor belt.

The new screening lanes are still staffed the same with TSA officers, but now, they're freed up to focus more on security and less on logistics of moving people through line.

If a bag is flagged, a metal arm pushes it away from the rest of the bins, and those passengers aren't delayed.

"It's our job to make sure there's no security threat, that all passengers are screened," said Lorie Dankers with TSA Nevada. "We'll take whatever time it does to do that, but it's great to have a resource like this that can make it more efficient."

At the end, the bins are then returned to the front like balls in a bowling alley.

There are no officers wheeling carts anymore, and bins are always ready for new passengers.

McCarran Airport is planning to add more automated security lanes soon.

Five other major American airports are also testing the system.