John Wayne Airport Adds Full-Body Scanners

Travelers at John Wayne Airport will soon notice additions to its security checkpoints, according to a Transportation Safety Administration spokesman.

JWA will soon join the long list of airports that have installed L3 Millimeter Wave Machines—or full-body scanners. According to TSA, the machines can detect in a matter of seconds a wide range of threats to transportation security.

"These machines are designed to find non-metallic threat items, like explosives, which, of course, our metal detectors are unable to find," said Nico Melendez, TSA spokesman.

"We expect to install 11 advanced imaging technology units in the coming months. As of yet, I don't have an operational date," Melendez said.

The AIT machines are in about 90 airports.

"We install them at airports that can support the machines in terms of infrastructure with minimal impact to screening operations during the installation process," Melendez explained.

In July the TSA announced that the machines were being upgraded to enhance passenger privacy. The scans now produce a generic, computer-generated outline of a person if a possible threat is detected. The outline will appear on a monitor that passengers are able to view just as the TSA officer sees it.