[国际新闻] 美国撤除禁令8月起可带打火机上飞机

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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。3 f5 O6 k9 O4 [' B+ S
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Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US4 k5 B2 `5 r' |* [! e* W, P& v" w
US 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.6 R9 f5 z' G& P. F7 u
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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.
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4 A! L7 C; n& r4 |; @US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
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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.7 s, I3 V! G- a- G0 v, W
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.人在德国 社区1 D; l1 Z1 b3 {/ Y9 }4 q4 R# U
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"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.6 L) @2 v9 A/ D" ~, Z- {+ o
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"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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( P' y+ W- o( ]  PThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.人在德国 社区, _7 o; t* i1 N, y1 ]8 _" I! n8 a

" k' n) A6 c8 [, W+ P  F6 W$ w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.