Pilot walks off job after refusing to go through full body X-ray scanner at airport

A Tennessee pilot is waiting to find out if he has lost his job because he refused to go through a full body scanner at a Memphis airport.

ExpressJet Airlines first officer Michael Roberts tued up for work on Monday but says he's tired of being manhandled by security agents and went home after deciding he didn't want to be patted down.

Roberts was chosen to go through the X-ray scanning machine at Memphis Inteational airport before getting into the pilot seat to fly a commercial aircraft.

The Houston-based pilot walked off his job after declining to go through the security screening but has said he wants to go back to work.

The 35-year-old says he has an issue with the security procedure because he doesn't want to be 'harassed or molested without cause'.

Speaking to The Commercial Appeal newspaper Roberts said: 'I just kind of had to ask myself, 'Where do I stand?' I'm just not comfortable being physically manhandled by a federal agent every time I go to work'.

Citing privacy conces, the Transportation Security Administration refused to speak directly about Roberts.

But their spokesman Jon Allen confirmed that a person was tued away after refusing to follow federal security procedures.

Objections: The pilot didn't want to go through a scanner similar to the one pictured as he said he was tired of being manhandled

Roberts says he has safety conces and doesn't actually believe TSA's 'make-work' programs makes flying safer for travelers.

Full-body scanners were meant to be installed in several New York City area airports by September but this has not yet been completed according to new reports.

The TSA has said that the installation is complex and the scanners would arrive 'in the coming weeks'.

Spokesperson Ann Davis say passengers are no less safe using the scanners.

She says they are designed to be faster and less physically intrusive than pat-downs and metal detectors.

But passengers visiting airports with the full body scanners have the option to be patted down and passed through a metal detector if they prefer.

So far the TSA has installed 259 scanners at 59 airports worldwide.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322261/Pilot-walks-job-refusing-body-X-ray-scanner-airport.html#ixzz12xNatdxo