[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。/ l) M, V1 N4 p) Z5 X

: j- ~- [9 W5 t% K. b/ S- bCigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US人在德国 社区8 c- N# f% j, y4 v9 y2 [. J. ?
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.# k' t/ u2 u2 K" @1 K

9 k# K( z; ]2 u人在德国 社区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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' z" n: [' b1 h* L人在德国 社区US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.人在德国 社区$ a9 a  n3 b- e4 c3 l# J& J, c

) @, R+ R9 T! m  y3 w& _, O9 sUS 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.
; _  r8 i' a6 c  i6 dMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.& D& D9 P5 n# r# |$ C, H/ j

1 {; h% u" |: _3 D4 v"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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+ g7 I/ f8 P6 @2 b# h1 ?, ?人在德国 社区"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."& _: m. u6 G! h1 m. m
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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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- ]5 Z  `# w& |# t& NThe 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.