System To Pinpoint Airline Passengers Who Contaminate Cabins
West Lafayette IN (SPX) May 24, 2007 Researchers developing a
system that uses mathematical models and sensors to locate
passengers releasing hazardous materials or pathogens inside
airline cabins have shown that the technique can track a
substance to an area the size of a single seat. The technique
might enable officials to identify passengers responsible for
the unintentional release of germs, such as contagious viruses,
or the intentional release of pathogens or chemical agents in a
terrorist attack, said Qingyan (pronounced Chin-Yan) Chen, a
professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. "The
goal is to be able to track the source if a person released a
biological agent, such as anthrax, or inadvertently released a
pathogen such as pandemic flu by sneezing, for example," he
said. The research is supported by the Air Transportation Center
of Excellence for Airline Cabin Environment Research,
established by the Federal Aviation Administ