[国际新闻] 美国撤除禁令8月起可带打火机上飞机

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。, T* g8 M5 T* K9 I3 C. A

7 x1 k- o/ d2 E! Y4 i; uCigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US人在德国 社区& y  R' w8 W0 q% \: R* v) U
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.! Q! N' \, n4 w, ]

- S* |, k, d; I4 m8 bReid, 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# ^  m2 N" u  l8 ?2 O$ z
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US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.4 W, D* s$ z/ l; y8 C; }% I: V

& _; N: @. p+ A) B9 X. QUS 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.
) i4 K+ Y) n+ Y: ~9 Z  \Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.$ a: H, @1 Y9 G2 d
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"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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1 L* x% h2 o) i3 v' ]人在德国 社区The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.) v% \; C$ E7 F9 y: T, H
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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.