[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人在德国 社区3 H, m& z# \$ ]; y2 W9 f
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.6 h  J- L3 [7 w! W

6 ]) X* ^0 N# o/ s6 V# HThe 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.
  B# s- N( s' E6 O- C人在德国 社区
" n& O! I$ w, i& J* L6 KReid, 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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) L5 B  H! l6 _& Z% o/ k; z3 ]9 h8 w8 ]US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
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) z" U8 A) c% i) X: sUS 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.
) ?% V6 U  R8 I3 j) _! P' z6 }! U人在德国 社区Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.' X( \, o8 _1 j' c  x$ M

+ K, O  ~  x# m& `# J( f"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
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3 ]5 S$ D/ z7 n1 Z"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."7 _' Z9 q! D2 A6 S+ O1 Q9 m

2 `5 ~4 y, X: L3 W' S4 _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.
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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.