Pittsburgh International Airport is now one of three U.S. airports using an expedited security screening system for pilots and cockpit officers checking through the gate in the landside terminal.

The Transportation Security Administration this week launched a 60-day program, crewPASS, which allows pilots, co-pilots and first officers to go through security screening much faster than by queuing up with passengers.

Flight deck crew members enter a secure area after presenting their airline-issued identifications and another forms of ID. Security officers check their credentials through a real-time database that includes pictures and other information to verify the crew's identity.

Once the pilots' identity has been verified, they are cleared through the screening. Their bags will be subject to random searches.

Jon Lewis, a Northwest Airlines pilot based in Minneapolis, who lugs three bags through security each time he flies, said the program, which it still being evaluated for efficiency, will enhance security and reduce stress.

"It will make life a lot easier for the pilots, the security screeners and the traveling public who depend on us," he said.

The program also is being evaluated at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina. It is limited to domestic airline crew officers.

"We are also interested in evaluating this program's ability to increase security by decreasing the number of people being screened, which allows our behavior detection officers to focus on individuals that exhibit suspicious behavior," said John Sammon, assistant TSA administrator.

Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman, said the program could be implemented at all airports after it has been fully evaluated.

"This is not special screening for pilots. It is efficient screening," said Mr. Lewis.