[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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5 P6 y- X, m8 v6 ~Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
; I8 S( U% l4 C0 F2 u- \9 NUS 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.人在德国 社区) W. Z. X- e1 m  F7 Q/ j

& x8 l* I1 d, M; K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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US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights., C3 `5 u  x& ?+ ?

' l0 ]' E+ ?0 `0 d+ e3 cUS 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.
* {' z4 l: G! W: LMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.
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3 @  A8 [% S9 m9 c: j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.3 }0 d0 d9 R% b8 n5 X1 S' I+ d: `! h& i

$ z3 ^& e6 P/ Q& @! t1 n"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."  J( Q* k% {3 n1 {- Q( N6 d: E2 @

2 W  W  \. Z. A7 l0 u( c4 FThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters., I  Z# f, n+ m, r, L+ L. i

$ t0 q0 @. h4 \0 {) ]$ D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.