[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。2 q' c# m& w2 r+ K2 P. b3 W
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Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
1 R% G! T/ F; C0 D9 Y: eUS 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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; [  f* Q" Z. K: K1 Y# u# iThe 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.人在德国 社区" o: V6 Z- P$ V; u0 p

; x/ i0 G% B# ~3 |% U/ w  m% _6 lReid, 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.% l% H' ~& m7 h+ N! K

% ~  ^6 T1 _0 k, a' B& J/ uUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
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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.
, [. R8 j! z. p9 x$ t' a: t& d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.
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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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"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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4 T6 S$ M3 y% ]. ?  s/ ?$ X/ aThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.
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1 \! F( x$ {$ l5 v' v* O" pThe 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.