TSA

A Dallas woman says she was forced to undergo three body scans by TSA workers because she has a "cute" figure - and she's not the only woman complaining about passenger "peep shows" at America’s airports.

The passenger, Ellen Terrell, is among a host of women who suspect they were randomly selected for body scans not because of any threat they posed, but because TSA workers wanted a closer look at their physiques, according to an investigation by CBS 11 in Dallas of more than 500 passenger complaints about the TSA.

"I feel I was targeted by the TSA employee to go through the see-you-naked machine because I am a semi-attractive female," according to one of the complaints reviewed by CBS.

The pattern of alleged abuses has caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who Sunday said he wants to introduce a bill to address complaints by passengers.

"A passenger at Dallas Fort Worth claims she was asked to walk through a body scanner three times for the simple purpose of letting screeners in another room get multiple views of her image," Schumer said, according to CBS 11. "At one point the passenger was asked if she plays tennis because of her 'cute' figure, " he said.

Terrell’s story was brought to light by the Texas station during its investigation into the treatment of female passengers by the TSA. The report aired earlier this month.

According to the station, Terrell and her husband, Charlie, were traveling out of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport when her ordeal took place.

Terrell told the station she was "randomly selected" for a scan. The agent, she said, was communicating by microphone with TSA staffers in another room, whom Terrell alleged were trying repeatedly to record a better image of her.

"They wanted a nice, good look," Terrell told CBS 11.

The female agent asked her to enter the machine three times in the incident several months ago. But the agent eventually lost patience with the requests coming from the other room, she told CBS 11.

"She's talking into her microphone and she says 'it is not blurry, letting her go' and she says 'come on out,'" Terrell told the station.

CBS 11 said other female travelers can certainly relate to Terrell's experiences These are among the complaints filed by other women, CBS 11 reported:

"Making American citizens unwilling victims of a peep show by TSA employees using full body imaging devices is an over-the-top invasion of privacy to which I strenuously object."
"I know he went to that room to see my naked body."
"When I looked around, I saw that there were only women that were "told" to go through this machine. There were no men."


Schumer wants to address these and other complaints about TSA agents. He plans to propose legislation that would require that at least one passenger advocate be present at an airport in the event travelers have complaints about their treatment at the hand of TSA workers. He said he resorted to introducing legislation because the TSA has not voluntarily installed such passenger advocates at Schumer's request.

"These latest incidents offer further proof that passengers need an onsite point of contact who they can bring grievances to and who can advocate on their behalf when they feel they are being treated unfairly or inappropriately, " said Schumer, who made the need for passenger advocates an issue last year after an elderly woman was strip searched at Kennedy Airport.

The TSA, for its part, said the workers do not profile passengers and the equipment used on Terrell has since been upgraded to provide only generic body forms, though 39 such machines remain at airports around the country, according to CBS 11.

"All of our millimeter wave technology units including those in Dallas have been upgraded with additional privacy enhancements that no longer display passenger-specific images. Even prior to this upgrade, officers reviewing the images were located in a separate room and would have never seen the passenger being screened. To further ensure passenger privacy and anonymity, a privacy filter was applied to blur all images. The technology remains optional to all passengers."

The agency said it takes all complaints seriously, and passengers should file them, including at the scene, if they feel violated, CBS 11 reported.

For Terrell, though, the damage is done. She told CBS 11 she didn't even know she could opt out and select a pat-down instead.

"I feel my privacy was violated," she said.