[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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8 m# z% k& K6 L8 ACigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US
+ O( j" p$ {" ?8 y9 MUS 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 l! S  L1 ^6 T( S9 P  O5.35.249.64Reid, 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.- ^6 j% a% t1 ^8 {2 |3 z- D
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US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.' T" R4 Q, }& R' n
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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.
4 V5 K: `0 L, l: y0 n+ C  ~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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& m+ \: f" H- m' I"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."+ h) I6 m% }+ w

/ g) U3 k: z2 j  h$ XThe policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.6 }% K* O$ \4 l
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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.