[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人在德国 社区0 W: u. v* V; s" S
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.6 M0 s% Y; S  b8 |6 Q

! B, n# _4 g: e* m$ |& H5 `- X) R& RThe 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.8 `/ a: B& j2 p6 w9 ^: W
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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.9 e8 _- L9 Q2 j: I; S

# Z3 ~! Y; D  [! U% {% s3 L. W. z% {/ m% SUS 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.  O3 `6 G& [+ J, a0 F8 G
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  r, j- s# v: K) }. L1 n9 }. T3 I

9 C' ^3 Z! O4 E& I$ W$ L1 J. `* [: X"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.: [8 T7 T6 ?, ^- A0 ~% T

( V: B0 A8 C, p/ }. n8 i"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.人在德国 社区& \1 a- |% t0 d3 c( M/ d+ I, V

2 W2 O! l; @8 M4 P6 D; k4 _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.