Even when small knives were detected by secondary screening, they were usually returned to the traveler.
The agency says it plans to conduct more secondary screenings to check for traces of explosives.
Previously, setting off the metal detector meant an automatic secondary screening.
This technology is used in secondary screening of passengers.
I can't forget the time when a member of my staff and I were selected for secondary screening in Omaha.
Under the previous rules, travelers were randomly selected for secondary screenings or taken aside if they set off metal detectors.
Both men set off the metal detector and were put through secondary screening.
The system determines who will be pulled aside for "secondary screening" at airport checkpoints.
The government's aim is to cut the number of people who are now diverted for "secondary screening" to about 4 percent from 14 percent now.
The agency's primary goal, however, is not to reduce the number of secondary screenings, but rather to focus them on likely security risks.