[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 h# e4 u+ ?% H1 w' w3 c1 aUS 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.7 y1 P: w; e6 Y2 y  i! j

' ~4 C# O1 B( \; w人在德国 社区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.人在德国 社区- l0 z: X. k/ E7 \3 \- D

) J; `. ^  j/ BUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.5 r" H: _1 g% N' Z9 y7 K$ T% U

# d- B; T0 v8 f/ ?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.
3 g2 n) {5 ]! i) r! c, E6 {. q5 {9 hMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.
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"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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% b4 X. [' j$ q3 h$ I& hThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.6 a( y9 q7 l1 A6 \$ t1 y9 {

  V+ x2 l: q0 w! k7 d% _rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deThe 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.