Step-on scanner lets air passengers keep their shoes on

Israel has introduced a step-on scanner that spares airline travellers the nuisance of having to remove their shoes so they can be X-rayed for hidden weapons, though the new device cannot yet sniff out explosives.

Only the shoes of passengers deemed suspicious by Ben-Gurion Airport staff are removed, X-rayed and swabbed for bomb residues. Most people can now keep their shoes on.

Installed next to the walk-through scanners at Ben-Gurion, MagShoe announces within two seconds whether the footwear of the passenger standing on it contains unusual metal that might be a knife for a hijacking or a bomb detonator part.

"This innovation brings enormous logistical value as it significantly cuts down the discomfort and delays associated with standard shoe searches," said Nissim Ben-Ezra, security technologies manager for Israel’s Airports Authority.

But he said MagShoe must be used in conjunction with other precautions, especially as it would not spot hidden explosives – a major concern after the botched 2001 shoe bombing by al Qaeda sympathiser Richard Reid aboard a Paris-Miami flight.