[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" u! ?0 V5 I( u/ V, L, o4 D& G
, A8 a, \$ ~; w) j6 w
Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
2 o, B3 m# C9 {" v$ 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.人在德国 社区$ X, X0 C( q% I- F, k' ^

2 v  j7 r* ~6 oThe 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.5 d; ~3 L( b4 Z. [$ W0 O

9 A. t' C7 n; }  c9 O+ {5 _  l3 [$ ars238848.rs.hosteurope.deReid, 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.$ T: v' B# d! h+ k
/ P& f& v7 K2 N8 ?
US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.8 ]2 s0 _2 e; n. e5 S: v  i

" R8 L9 d: b0 C; Q  A% a. yUS 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.
- x% r6 O6 m& s7 hMr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.6 n7 l7 k2 F8 b( z6 W
$ C+ t# w/ z$ W- g) R& [* ~
"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
8 J7 G' _( u: ^7 i% t人在德国 社区人在德国 社区6 E) j% X. u  `6 H* h4 B
"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."9 }1 f6 f/ H; z. Q

( r* r# n6 Q7 W& D7 r1 }' S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.人在德国 社区9 o, x+ b4 p4 I5 d. O. O
$ r5 k- N5 i. _$ [* ^
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.