[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。: _7 s9 W7 k& a/ w* S8 E
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Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
4 `; t2 r) `; ]' R( G( O& f# C1 K9 g; cUS 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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" P9 i) s# o7 I: c1 v& e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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' I+ M2 G7 g: Q& C! x# rReid, 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& a4 y3 U3 d4 k1 s( X
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US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.( w3 H" c, v# \: A" t
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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.
) p6 J2 e; A# u8 ZMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.0 g4 q  Z! U9 w, F
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"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.' `; G# Q' [% c& K9 f# e

. d5 W8 O5 y& r3 n0 W4 p3 L: e"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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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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4 |+ ^1 T$ W$ y' z  ^) D- J: b# t* D人在德国 社区The 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.