Two women traveling from Manchester, U.K., to Islamabad, Pakistan, refused to be scanned before entering an airplane.
The incident, which occurred on Feb. 19, was recently revealed to news agencies. One of the women is thought to be Muslim and refused to enter the scanner, citing religious reasons.
The other woman said she had health problems and was afraid to enter the full-body scanner. Both women were selected at random to undergo scanning. However, it was unclear if the two were together. Officials on the scene said they would not be able to fly if they didn’t go through the scanners, which were introduced in Oct. 2009. The new machines have come under fire from advocacy groups because they say the machines invade peoples’ privacy.
