[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
* d6 d+ q! U1 q# a( C2 u0 i! w% drs238848.rs.hosteurope.deUS 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.
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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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! ~) V7 Q! R' g/ zReid, 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.; W3 Y: e# u& e/ M6 ~

( I7 r3 T% e8 V; D2 }US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de& }$ l8 S0 l9 M, q1 ?6 P2 _3 @
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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.
; F  `, ~5 r: ^1 I/ W3 z. M3 }0 qMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.
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+ |/ I& ]* c# \4 [9 o"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.6 f) }  a' u  H7 z0 [

' O$ E; g: U6 q5 U3 d"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."+ d" d7 |, R6 J( _
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The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.
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7 L: L7 d$ Y$ ?$ B4 n: |3 E8 r( CThe 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.