U.S. Airport Security Staff Singled Her out for Her Breasts

Singled out: Eliana Sutherland, pictured at Disneyland, claimed she was subjected to additional security screening because of her breasts

A woman has complained that new US airport security measures saw her picked out for further screening because of her breasts. Eliana Sutherland was flying from Orlando International Airport and said she felt violated by security workers.

It was the latest revelation to hit the Transportation Security Administration which imposed the checks and whose officers have been on the receiving end of a series of allegations. Her claims come after thousands of Americans reacted furiously to the imposition of new airport security measures, including full body scans and hands-on patdowns.

And experiences like those described by Sutherland could see increased support for boycott of the TSA's controversial checks. Sutherland told her local news station that two male TSA workers had been staring at her chest and singled her out for additional screening.

'It was pretty obvious. One of the guys that was staring me up and down was the one who pulled me over,' she said. 'Not a comfortable feeling.'

Privacy-invasion claims like Sutherland's have become increasingly common since the TSA introduced the full body scan. Colleen Moskaly went through a full body scan recently while her security agents performed a pat-down on her infant son.

She said, "I'm not good with people touching me and touching my son. The only person that sees the screen is the security guy."

The TSA has stressed that people are chosen for additional screening at random and strictly for security reasons. Many travellers had threatened to boycott the security measures as part of a National Opt Out Day organised by a number of protest websites.

Protests - coupled with widespread snow and storms - could have led to major disruption for Thanksgiving passengers. But reports from airports across the U.S. suggested passengers had chosen not to take part in the planned protests.

The apparent calm at followed a plea from the head of the Transport Security Administration's (TSA) plea to passengers not to boycott airport body scans. John Pistole has said he understood public concerns about privacy in the wake of the TSA's tough new airline boarding security checks.

But he said that only a small portion of the 34 million people who have flown since the new procedures have taken effect have had the body patdowns. He has pledged to review security procedures but says the TSA must balance people's demands for privacy with the need to protect passengers from terror threats.

U.S. Secreary of State Hillary Clinton waded into the row earlier this week by saying she would avoid a TSA patdown if she could. The former First Lady said she understood 'how offensive it could be' for airport passengers and called for less intrusive procedures to be introduced.

President Barack Obama has also said he understood the frustrations of passengers, though admitted he does not have to submit to the TSA procedures himself. According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 57 per cent of air travellers are 'bothered or angry' about the TSA pat-downs and dislike the alternative of a full body scan.