[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': UScsuchen.de$ e( E& R" s) H( D) I' _5 s
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.
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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.
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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.csuchen.de; R7 H8 q) l5 N$ o" B- o6 n1 i  Y

% G8 U7 c8 W2 X; k  OUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.人在德国 社区$ e' j0 ?" \3 I7 \5 E5 A- E# C+ m
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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.
, u# M- U0 ^/ V2 _6 IMr 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.人在德国 社区, \8 x/ L/ E- N, I& L: W
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"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."
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3 A) u# w% |5 F# |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# r8 A3 j* d% P6 t. A

, T- R) q" w7 n0 |! P" a4 H/ SThe 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.