Fliers all for whole body scanners in airports, if it means better flight safety

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Some fliers say whole body scanners, which cost about $150,000 apiece, are no more invasive than a security patdown procedure.

Bring on the body scans!

Beleaguered airline passengers said Sunday they have no problem with controversial new "whole body scan" machines that give screeners an undressed view of travelers.

The technology is in use at a handful of U.S. airports, including Salt Lake City and Los Angeles International, and is still being tested by the Transportation Security Administration.

"I don't mind [the scanner] because it would be in place for safety," said Samantha Day, 44, who flew into Kennedy Airport from London.

"It's no more invasive than someone touching every part of your body" during existing patdown security procedures, added Marni Blitz of Robbinsville, N.J.

Opponents argue the machines violate personal privacy because they show images of the naked body. Advocates counter that they're vital to safety - and would have detected the explosives sewn into the underwear of a Nigerian man who tried to blow up a flight over Detroit on Christmas Day.

The body imaging machines cost about $150,000. They emit some radiation, but experts say it's far less than what passengers are exposed to on a normal flight.

Former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff told the Daily News that naysayers have delayed installation of the scanners.

He said the botched attack on Flight 253 shows that they are a needed weapon in the anti-terror arsenal.

"Privacy advocates and the ACLU have slowed or stopped the deployment of the machines with a barrage of objections," Chertoff said in an e-mail. "The bad guys have figured out this vulnerability. Isn't it time we deployed these machines?"