Bishop International Airport

“Smart Helmets” will take temps at first U.S. airport

Health, ,

Bishop International Airport (FNT) in Flint, MI will be the first U.S. airport to deploy “Smart Helmets” made by Italian manufacturer KeyBiz.

The devices use artificial intelligence and thermal imaging to scan passenger temperatures from a distance.

“This device is a game-changer,” said FNT director Nino Sapone, noting that the smart helmets will allow airport police to walk the terminal building and randomly screen both incoming and outgoing passengers.

FNT officials say if an elevated temperature (above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) is detected, an officer will approach the passenger and accompany them to the ticket counter of the airline they are/were flying.

The officer will let an agent or manager know what’s up and wait to hear whether or not the airline will let that passenger fly. The airport police officer will then make sure the decision is followed, said FNT officials.

“If the individual with an elevated temperature is not a passenger, they will be asked to leave the terminal building in the name of health and safety,” the airport said in a statement. “

“The officer will also ask for their name and attempt to identify whether or not they came in contact with anybody else while in the terminal.”

Smart Helmets aren’t just mobile thermometers

Smart Helmets do more than just take temperatures. They can also be used for facial recognition and other tasks.

Photographs can be uploaded to the helmet itself and officers can use the Smart Helmet to do facial scans on individuals in the airport and detect matches.

“This feature will be especially beneficial in the detection of wanted criminals, suspects, missing persons, and the like,” the airport says in its news release.

‘Smart Helmet’ in action

While Flint’s Bishop International Airport (FNT) is the first U.S. airport to deploy Smart Helmets, it is not the first airport in the world to do so.

Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO), also known as Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, began testing the helmets in May 2020.

Take a look.

Jerry Lewis, guns, and deer

Celebrities, Guns, ,

Actor and comedian Jerry Lewis was on his way to Detroit last Friday when he got nabbed at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas for having a gun in his carry-on baggage.

Maybe he was really on his way to Flint.

According to the Flint Journal, at Flint’s Bishop International Airport recently a “wayward shot” flew by some workers when “a public safety officer at the airport was shooting at a deer that had gotten onto the airport grounds.”

No one was hurt, but the Journal reports that the airport is “developing new rules on how and when wildlife will be cleared from the airport property — including possibly keeping shooters farther away from buildings and limiting shoots during local business hours.”

Good idea.