Newark Liberty International Airport First in Area to Receive Full-body Scanners
's Terminal B, which handles all international arrivals, including domestic Northwest Airlines flights, will be outfitted with full-body scanners.
The scanners cost $170,000 each and serve as a response to the failed airplane bombing incident by Umar Abdulmutallab, who tried to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear during Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day.
Proponents of the technology believe it can thwart such incidents in the future. Opponents, such as the ACLU, state the scanners are a violation of privacy.
Newark Liberty was chosen to receive the scanners because it is one of the country's busiest and high-profile airports.