[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。5 o6 ]5 u: R5 |- g: O4 S3 ]* v
人在德国 社区! E/ @2 m3 I. D5 k: a
Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US+ F  D/ i' N- n( {0 b6 S1 C
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./ j# [4 Z3 b+ J$ ]6 A, ]' Y4 [1 m
- P3 W' n  [6 f
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.
$ F2 {) h; r+ J9 Z/ F; `0 c: E/ Irs238848.rs.hosteurope.de
/ j* j0 n: b; l  w5 |, g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.
2 n. C8 Y% Z, Y1 G0 R人在德国 社区
' a4 S1 ~- l; V. W4 t% ], }: LUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
* N& }9 Z  c3 D' i' d, q1 P% I6 s; ?8 ~3 U3 R
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.$ q* v: r/ W% k. S2 r
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.2 z8 x- G# p! b) D- l* m* Z
, ~; P3 _2 x6 O- x4 ~( X% I
"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
! [) r: W6 q7 Y7 L- ]% [, N" U# X! f4 J% R
"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."2 W, a5 w5 F1 `& ~3 a" T9 o
人在德国 社区3 `# C9 E4 ]. T2 t
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7 s5 R8 M# h: q5 o  H4 S

- ~2 z- ~3 t9 e% d+ j$ {7 ^7 ]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.