in my opinion, i think they need to find something a little bit better. >> reporter: then there is the question of radiation. the government says the scanners are safe. pilots who have to pass through them on a daily basis aren't so sure. including the biggest hero pilot around, captain sully himself. >> i think it's unnecessary for the flight crews to go through them, first, and second, i think it poses some radiation risk. >> reporter: but opting out of the scanners only causes more problems now that enhanced pat-down techniques give agents the right to feel inside the legs, the front of a woman's bra, and more. >> you're going to be searched either way and you're going to be invaded either way. >> reporter: on capitol hill the tsa's chief acknowledged the new pat-downs are invasive. but he said they're necessary because the government has been able to smuggle items through normal security in its own tests more than they'd like to admit. >> the intelligence, coupled with the repeated covert testing led me to conclude that we