Passengers at airports across the U.S.no longer have to remove their shoes during regular TSA security checks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Tuesday.Noem said the change would take effect immediately for airports across the country.”Our security technology has changed dramatically.It’s evolved.TSA has changed,” Noem said during a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.“We have a multilayered, whole-of-government approach now to security and to the environment that people anticipate and experience when they come into an airport that has been honed and it’s been hardened.” Travelers with TSA PreCheck already didn’t have to remove their footwear.In order to have PreCheck, travelers must submit an application and go through a clearance process with the Transportation Security Administration.Noem said rules for removing a belt, coat or items out of a bag such as laptops or liquids are still in effect but Homeland Security is reviewing the rules.In a statement to CBS News on Monday, TSA said the agency and the Department of Homeland Security “are always exploring new and innovative ways to enhance the passenger experience and our strong security posture.”The no-shoes rule was implemented by TSA nationwide in 2006.
The official adoption of the rule came several years after Richard Reid, a British man who would come to be known as the “shoe bomber,” attempted to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoe in December 2001.Reid failed to detonate the explosives, and the plane landed safely in Boston after passengers helped subdue him.
Following that incident, airlines and TSA began asking passengers to voluntarily remove their shoes when going through security.
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