Catching a flight from the airport is an exciting journey for air travelers as there are several steps involved in making the journey smooth and safe. 24*7 security right from the entry gate to baggage counter and boarding the flight ensures that incidents of bullying are kept to a minimum and passengers have a pleasant traveling experience. In fact, India is one of the safest countries to travel by flight, due to its comprehensive security policies implemented by the DGCA body BCAS. The Mumbai International Airport, operated by the Adani Group, is not only one of the busiest domestic and international airports in India, but also has elaborate security arrangements.
One aspect of this security arrangement is the thorough checking of the passenger as well as their baggage. Many people ask what happens to their luggage when they check-in at the airport or what are the restricted items that one should not carry in one’s check-in bag? Here is a detailed explanation of the baggage screening process at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.
What happens to your bags after check-in at the airport?
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Checking check-in bags for potential threats is an important aspect of safe air travel, and our in-line security team is at the forefront of ensuring the safety of passengers and the airport. The baggage screening job of the in-line security team may seem simple, but it is vital to the safety of passengers and the airport. Here’s what in-line security does to your luggage:
1) The main goal of the in-line safety team is to detect and eliminate potential hazards that may cause a disaster.
2) The in-line security team ensures that no baggage reaches the aircraft or restricted areas at the airport without being thoroughly screened beforehand.
3) All members of the in-line security team are qualified and have experience screening carry-on baggage using the equipment available to them.
4) The highly skilled and experienced in-line security team does a tremendous job of ensuring that each and every bag is safe to be carried on planes.
5) With their years of experience, members of the in-line security team can detect any bag containing suspicious items within seconds and prevent that bag from boarding the aircraft.
6) CSMIA’s in-line security team ensures that bags dropped at airline security counters are screened, sanitized and delivered to baggage handlers in about 10 minutes.
Improved Mechanism at CSMIA for Check-in Baggage
The baggage system installed at CSMIA has a capacity of 9,600 bags per hour at T2 and 4800 bags per hour at T1.
– The total length of the baggage belt is about 8 kilometers
– The time it takes for the bag to reach from the check-in counter to the airlines container is approx. 10 minutes
– Large bags, guitar cases, sports equipment bags, fragile items and live animals pass through Super Out of Gauge (SOG) machines
– There is a separate lift for bags which can damage the conveyor
– Baggage control room can trace any bag and its status in the system
– Bags are under CCTV coverage throughout the system
– The whole system is automated, and the bags are not tampered with by a person at any point of time
– Our experienced inline security team members screen each bag within only 20 to 30 seconds.
Check-in Baggage Screening Process at CSMIA
Step 1 – Passengers hand over their check-in bags at the airline counter. Airline representative affixes barcode tag to bag
Step 2 – The bag is passed through the X-ray, one level down, on the blue conveyor belt
Step 3 – Eight X-ray machines scan each bag and dispatch it. An in-line security team member receives the scanned X-ray image and within 20 to 30 seconds decides whether the bag is clear to proceed. CCTV cameras track each and every bag during the entire process
Step 4 – Once cleared by an in-line security team member, the bags go through vertical separation. All cleared bags are discarded on the green conveyor belt while questionable bags move to the red line
Step 5 – Bags at the red belt go through another round of screening by in-line security team members. If found suspicious, owner is contacted and notified of prohibited items in bag resulting in rejection
Step 6 – If the passenger is present at the airport, he/she will have to be physically present when the bag is opened. After in-line security team members remove the prohibited items, the bags are scanned once again and if cleared, they add the remaining bags onto the green conveyor belt
– If the passenger is present at the airport but there is little time left to take off, the airline representative will escort the passenger to a dedicated facilitation center from where the passenger can watch the removal of the prohibited item through CCTV and video screens . bags by members of the in-line security team. After removing the restricted items, the bags are scanned once again and if cleared, they add the rest of the bags onto the green conveyor belt
– If the passenger has left the airport, he/she will have to give authorization to the concerned airline staff to open the bag and remove the prohibited items in the presence of in-line security team members. In this case, passengers will have to wait till the concerned airline sends the bag back to the destination
Step 7 – Bags traveling to the green belt fall onto the tilt-tray belt, which tilts them to the final conveyor belt
Step 8 – Final conveyor belt containing all material dropped by auto-separation belt
Step 9 – Porters load the bags into a container wagon and take them to the plane.
Prohibited items in check-in bags
Spare/or loose batteries, power banks, lithium metal or lithium-ion cells: If damaged, short-circuited, or overheated, these batteries can catch fire inside the aircraft.
Battery powered wheelchairs and mobility aids: These devices contain wet batteries, if damaged during transport the acid in the batteries can cause corrosion and malfunction of aircraft equipment.
Compressed gas cartridges, cylinder lighters, e-cigarettes: These gases are highly flammable and can explode if damaged during transit.
Electronic devices that cannot be turned off: Battery-operated devices that cannot be turned off can generate a lot of heat, which can cause a fire.
Thermometers or barometers, mercury-filled medical devices: If such devices are damaged during transit, the leaked mercury can spread to the cargo area of the aircraft and cause damage. In addition, if mercury spills inside the aircraft, it can cause corrosion and damage to aircraft equipment.
Desiccated coconut: Desiccated coconut contains a high amount of oil which is highly flammable and can cause a fire if it encounters the heat inside the aircraft.
How soon does your bag get to the plane?
Timing plays a very important role in airport operations. Every minute lost in the process could result in a passenger missing a flight. At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), we make every effort to ensure that the passenger experience is seamless, from entering the airport to boarding. The in-line security team members only take 20 to 30 seconds to scan each bag and they have to do it with 100% accuracy to ensure security.