[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。7 z' F( a1 J! S: ]$ B2 a

9 d% d1 |; i4 U" m1 ~" ]" K- G! sCigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US2 y3 H  K9 ^$ \( k, u) 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.
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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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6 j- n4 L, G7 R- N& z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.人在德国 社区( a# q) e5 E: k7 I0 ]

4 K6 h+ z: t+ R7 gUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.
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2 X! E- V' _+ R$ @7 {9 \9 jUS 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.
# W; p+ n1 {: v7 p: UMr 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."& b3 s, i' k/ }6 I# K7 V

8 H/ z- u6 [: u$ l* o3 X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.% u, G1 ^+ T  E0 {, C0 b' i4 j+ f

: X2 }- j/ q: R! k人在德国 社区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.