Security employed by contractor OCS searches a passenger at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. Teams of 5-8 perform a rotational order of tasks, changing every 20 minutes: A loader (asking travellers to take off clothing, shoes etc); archway detectors; X-ray operator; liquid tester and bag searcher. The X-ray operator can earn a £50 bonus for a suspect item randomly inserted by undercover officials and known as an Airlock Find. Also, a Tip is a random image flashed on the screen that shows a suspect item they have to spot. A typical day of searched passengers is 25,000 passengers in T5. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download