Pilots bypass searches under new system

WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration said it started trials of a system that allows pilots to bypass security lines at three U.S. airports.

The new system allows pilots to pass through a special security line, where they are required to show ID cards without being searched, USA Today reported Thursday.

"It will definitely be a benefit to passengers not having to see someone cut in line," said Capt. John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association.

The TSA has begun 60-day trials of the program at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina, the report said.

TSA Assistant Administrator John Sammon said the system could be implicated at additional airports if it speeds up security checks.