[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。
) m. ~# Z5 m) B
7 u! W8 w* q! L. ]5 f* B! `Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
  t/ t/ k' I! j* E人在德国 社区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.
0 G  I: a4 z: G. a8 y9 n+ D  v
7 V  q9 Q% ~: V& j5.35.249.64The 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.
( N" E. F1 H7 ?& c* F% }$ A  t8 v+ j. q4 E# Q
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.
/ e* [  w' Q- I人在德国 社区
. @( W% h5 o7 C4 W1 h  d6 ZUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.6 X6 u0 ~5 ~8 d; v; ]
$ U7 c+ E: K* ~5 ?- m
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.
0 c  h2 c7 m& r" `7 \4 O5 s2 [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.6 s" h1 S; w3 l7 O
7 [8 h2 P$ U9 h9 y0 }) L$ J' Q
"The number one threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point," he said.
2 A$ e. @( q5 r人在德国 社区人在德国 社区1 z& |! e/ v/ B8 }. m8 y2 g
"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."- f/ l4 d9 P3 p/ h
( E% d7 e) I- I. e+ H2 r( M0 h
The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.
# N, ]- [- h" I5 t! t  |0 Q* q+ t9 b$ v: a/ M
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.