[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' t9 x( V& O3 t: q
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.. u6 e1 Y. }; O: Z, K

' P7 t, G' }5 z8 k' r, {) b! Q0 \, a' pReid, 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.; D) \) O: F) o

9 O, {' R" c' K  uUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
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, y1 K4 ~- i  u( U% S' fUS 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.+ I  b0 b- u( _$ x; r% k, R
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.
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. g9 O( ^8 U* h1 M1 ]7 e+ D$ m" d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.0 ?4 G  b- i/ R6 o' w, n

; ?4 c# ^4 G# a. J人在德国 社区"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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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.