[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。5 Q1 Y6 V; h' L* T. ]
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Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US. c  m# U5 C- x, D3 B, P8 p' N
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.$ `% V5 n) a8 l7 e7 K/ k5 n
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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2 h& C3 P( M: Y- }4 m8 R- P

2 V! f  `( O6 t' }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.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de+ x9 N) `* Q2 t: R
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* D  n8 `2 D5 \+ R9 G- ]/ q+ A

( Y" i! ?' b' C. R, u" j! S人在德国 社区"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.. w6 q: C3 d6 o2 u9 O

- o: k4 a2 [9 X! e5 Frs238848.rs.hosteurope.de"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."* _. d0 [1 _3 d$ C* W' f+ X
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The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.+ `0 W/ s5 |# u
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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.