[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
) t7 w  _  P- z6 m* K$ lUS 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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. Q* E; p6 {' h4 y" f; fThe 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.' s& Q. l  W) r" R' \; |
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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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- f3 Q$ [) n0 BUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.2 B7 A% s7 D2 X; A  v) R6 n" q: |

6 {' O- g9 z- B9 ]" T% M, o) V; p" 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.9 V! V$ P) Y  N+ y5 W5 F& K+ j
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.* K/ a9 D8 F; \+ ^0 v  C

  U5 ?) |0 f4 H) Z+ M$ s. M# ars238848.rs.hosteurope.de"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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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.