Pat downs less likely with new Eugene security scanner

Those flying out of Eugene have the first in Oregon to go through a new security scanner system.

The new body scanning equipment serves two primary purposes:  It screens for objects that may be hidden in a person's clothing without the physical contact, and it also improves privacy; the scanners use a generic body outline instead of specific images.

If the scanner detects nothing, a green "okay" message appears. If something abnormal is found, further screening would be done.

Don Wilson of the Transportation Security Administration says the new equipment will dramatically reduce the number of pat downs, “especially for folks who have metal implants like artificial knees or hips. They've been traditionally subjected to a pat down every time they fly, so this gives them the ability to go through the scanner and perhaps not get that pat down.”

The TSA stresses the new scanner is not an x-ray.