[国际新闻] 美国撤除禁令8月起可带打火机上飞机

日月光

美国政府决定从8月4日开始，停止施行已经两年，禁止乘客带普通打火机上飞机的政策。美国运输部认为，在乘客登机前搜索他们身上是否携带打火机，根本是浪费时间。 2001年当鞋子炸弹客芮德意图在从巴黎飞往迈阿密的班机上，用火柴引燃藏在鞋子里的炸弹後，美国政府在国会的坚持之下，终於宣布了禁带打火机上机的命令。
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Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
1 w/ r: R% H% K' u1 @2 UUS authorities will no longer enforce a two-year-old ban against taking cigarette lighters on planes because searching passengers wasted time and did not improve aviation security, the New York Times reports.9 }6 D6 T* k7 g3 ?1 r2 D! K
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The ban on lighters was ordered by US lawmakers after a passenger, Richard Reid, tried to ignite a bomb in his shoe in 2001 on a flight from Paris to Miami.
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Reid, known as the "shoe bomber", had used matches to try to ignite explosives concealed in his shoe and is currently serving a life sentence for trying to blow up the transatlantic flight.0 M6 [3 a6 _. X) A
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US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights./ f5 y. n9 e, _- k. y8 v" ?6 X
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US Transport Security Administration assistant secretary Kip Hawley says the ban on lighters did not significantly enhance security because small batteries could be used to detonate a bomb.
8 d7 g; W0 D2 M4 z3 Y1 v/ L+ DMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de* M5 a3 X4 n/ w8 T& c2 P

  G, L0 n; v; \4 }6 l( z# N"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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/ t2 v- ^* ?( p" b4 N2 x/ B, x"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."* m* o7 z: l/ q2 e
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The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.8 o( B! _5 l- j/ A" z& a6 B

& X2 E+ F( I' d3 I1 A5 h1 JThe New York Times says some 22,000 lighters a day are collected by security officers at airports across the United States and disposing of the confiscated lighters has cost about $US4 million a year.