[国际新闻] 美国撤除禁令8月起可带打火机上飞机

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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。) g  s! B- z. ~

: J1 j/ c( F' Z+ ]9 k" R5.35.249.64Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US+ H( r( a  }* s6 M" E+ f
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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* v/ p& _9 v8 F7 W- J5.35.249.64Reid, 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* C7 c8 }5 d

$ O/ w7 P5 Q3 T. k$ xUS authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.1 m6 t; {" z- `4 i4 g  R. ^

" H6 H! o/ P# x) d4 kUS 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.7 [; ?9 F& C2 v" a+ U/ t% l5 P% m. y
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.5 c$ y% D2 P+ Q. V7 x
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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# }, p( n+ S9 d- B$ m8 o

1 }6 C# s  e8 s/ q  j"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."- R' U; T+ h5 h6 H

9 u* h5 g  M; MThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.( G7 B' P$ x! w" M; X
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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.