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TSA boss open to air screening changes

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent conducts a pat down search of a passenger arriving at Denver International Airport less than a week away from the Thanksgiving holiday on November 19, 2010 in Denver. UPI/Gary C. Caskey
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent conducts a pat down search of a passenger arriving at Denver International Airport less than a week away from the Thanksgiving holiday on November 19, 2010 in Denver. UPI/Gary C. Caskey | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- TSA chief John Pistole admitted Monday some airport searches have gone too far and said the agency may yield to growing outrage.

Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," the Transportation Security Administration boss said: "The bottom line is, we are always adapting and adjusting prior protocols. … If that means we need to adjust the procedures, then of course we're open to that."

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He also told the Christian Science Monitor Monday body cavity searches are out.

Since a body cavity bomb needs an external trigger, he said, current screening methods might pick it up even if it could not detect the hidden explosives.

"So we are not going to get in the business of doing body cavities," Pistole said. "That is not where we are."

An ABC News employee said she was subjected to a "demeaning" search at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday.

"The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around," she said. "It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist."

"There should never be a situation where that happens," Pistole said.

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