TSA Debuts New Security Screening Technology at Yeager, Tri-State Airports

With the help of facial recognition technology, the process of clearing the security checkpoints at West Virginia International Yeager Airport and Huntington’s Tri-State Airport has become quicker and more precise. The face screening and other instant identification technology is being implemented by the Transportation Security Administration.

The newest generation of Credential Authentication Technology is now in use at the state’s two largest airports and is expected to be installed next year at Beckley’s Raleigh County Memorial Airport and at the North Central West Virginia Airport at Bridgeport/ Clarksburg.

Twice-weekly flights from CRW to New York- Newark to begin in November

Breeze Airways will begin offering nonstop air service between Charleston and Newark Liberty International Airport, in New Jersey, on Thursdays and Sundays beginning Nov. 14, the airline and West Virginia International Yeager Airport announced Wednesday.

TSA screening

Transportation Security Administration screening instructor Valerie Hammes (left) inserts an identification card for scanning as a new temporary photo is taken of TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein while they demonstrate new traveler ID technology at Charleston’s West Virginia International Yeager Airport on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.

The new camera-equipped CAT-2 units produce real-time photos of the faces of passengers entering security checkpoints, which are automatically compared with photos on travelers’ driver’s licenses or passport photos.

The CAT-2 units contain a “library” of 2,500 different types of TSA-accepted IDs programmed into them for use in authentication.

By using ultraviolet light to highlight official watermarks while precisely measuring the lettering, photo size and other components of driver’s licenses and passports, “this technology enhances detection capabilities for identifying fraudulent documents at the security checkpoint,” said John C. Allen, the TSA’s security director for West Virginia.

FAA cancels environmental impact statement for runway extension at Yeager

Following a pause issued in March, the Federal Aviation Administration has officially canceled the preparation of an environmental impact statement associated with the plan to extend the runway at West Virginia International Yeager Airport.

TSA screening John Allen

John Allen, the Transportation Security Administration's federal security director for West Virginia, speaks about the new traveler's identification technology during a media event at West Virginia's International Yeager Airport in Charleston Thursday Oct. 17, 2024.

“It’s a game changer in technology,” Allen said. “We can now use facial characteristic algorithms to match passengers with their IDs. It raises security to another level.”

The CAT-2 units also increase efficiency by automatically verifying a passenger’s identification and instantly matching the passenger’s name with a flight reservation that day for the airport where the screening takes place, eliminating the need to display boarding passes before entering checkpoints.

Once passengers clear security checkpoints they will still need to bring their boarding passes to their departure gate to show airline representatives before boarding flights.

Photos captured by CAT-2 units are never stored or used for purposes other than immediate identity verification and are deleted after use, according to the TSA. Travelers not wanting to take part in the facial recognition process can opt out in favor of an alternative identity verification process.

More than 800 of the CAT-2 units are in use at airports across the country, with more being added regularly, according to the TSA.

'Interesting terrain': Yeager Airport hosts US Navy flight school summer session

Forty-five fledgling military aviators have traded the coastline and flat farmland of Western Florida for the green, rolling hills of West Virginia as the terrain over which they will learn to fly T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft during a monthlong Charleston-based training session.

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(c)2024 The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, W.Va.)

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