By Steffen Klenk
In the age of COVID-19, health and safety has never felt more important. Officials at Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) are hoping to add a little peace of mind during your next flight. Representatives from Israel Aerospace Industries North America (IAI), Israel’s largest aerospace company, were on site to provide a first-hand look at two new devices that aim to assure the health and safety of air passengers.
During a demonstration, two brand new pieces of technology were unveiled. The Tamar, a state-of-the-art monitor, accurately reads body temperature, along with heart and respiratory rates without human contact from up to six feet away. Felicity Kay of Israel Aerospace Industries and Eltel, provided an up-close look at the device. “The person that is operating this doesn’t even need to be in the same room, so a potentially infectious person is not going to infect anyone around them.”
Also on display was the Grenada, a machine that illuminates Ultraviolet-C (UVC ) light to kill viruses and bacteria. Assaf Tamir, with IAI, says development of the new device was put into effect last year. “We started connecting with engineers and test pilots to find out the best way to deploy this kind of technology.”
At the height of the pandemic, air traffic at ACY went down by 95% compared to the year 2019. The new devices are aimed to help in the fight against COVID-19 and make passenger journey as safe as possible, according to SJTA Airport Director Tim Kroll. “The biggest key in aviation right now is to make sure that passengers feel confident in traveling and getting back into the air.”
The demonstration also highlighted the importance of the relationship between the state of New Jersey and Israel. New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way, speaking at ACY, says these experiments are laying the groundwork for future innovations designed to keep travelers healthy. “We are seeing some of Israel’s most cutting edge technology being tested through these demonstrations.”
Atlantic City International Airport received an Airport Health Accreditation by Airports Council International for its plan to help fight the spread of COVID. Kroll says while the new technology unveiled will assist in that, there will still be a need for it beyond the pandemic. “We don’t know when the next pandemic is going to be, and our job is to make the traveling public feel safe.”
Atlantic City International Airport was one of several small U.S. airports selected as a testing site for these demonstrations.
Steffen Klenk is a multimedia journalist. He resides in Ocean City and enjoys capturing the eclectic moments of shore life.
