[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。
: v5 e; _) D5 I9 s$ M0 c' B 8 u' n7 J8 Z7 p* w
Cigarette lighter ban 'a waste of time': US. v  ]1 M5 V/ p7 W. J9 B
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./ c9 M6 s3 k) j3 l

6 ~! q4 \; }' q$ U) g* p4 g' P) x$ B1 `人在德国 社区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.
% B. _$ s  V, V. O* S$ U, l5.35.249.64
( w- s- @9 ^; z, @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.5.35.249.641 \$ E, C# ~$ I3 F$ J" S' ~
人在德国 社区& |1 `* I: R% V! T* X
US authorities have never tried to ban matches from flights.8 c& M# B5 Y% d) I

: N* G. i- B4 Z4 t9 C8 s0 B% NUS 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.人在德国 社区& p2 r8 O5 I* R+ `7 W
Mr Hawley says lifting the prohibition will free up security officers to spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts.
( B# u! z9 F: E5 d) c: n5.35.249.64& p& z* T3 z" i3 o8 _2 ?; m2 J
"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9 S( E, \! d" [

% n% R- q5 ?( i- W2 h  o"We don't want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that."0 a! U% ^) {6 C% l  t1 h9 y! u
) Z' W. i9 F4 z* {; i- \" m6 W5 X
The policy change is to take effect on August 4 and applies to disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters.
$ k& s3 j7 s7 q# E. X/ ?& Z人在德国 社区; x: V- R3 T+ e
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.