[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。人在德国 社区  z! r/ m; m7 m$ C: `4 G

/ c: [% l! [" ?" t  W& q1 LCigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US2 A( s3 I" i8 y; W+ e5 g: B7 o
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.
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# W9 k+ X' {- R; L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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* i" X5 U: C( `* cUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.( I- {9 k0 Z8 U1 g, Q: T
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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.5 E7 M5 o/ J4 @' p" I& T
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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"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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5 q( Q* ]+ N6 L. I! u6 e- i2 u' H- _"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."人在德国 社区/ K+ f( J- l* Q) f
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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.