New travel accessory for smokers.
Posted on 12/31/2004 10:16:18 PM PST by wagglebee
FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - In what could become a major hassle for air travelers who smoke, the Homeland Security Department will ban all cigarette lighters beyond airport checkpoints beginning Feb. 15.
The Intelligence Reform Bill that President Bush signed Dec. 17 orders the Transportation Security Administration to review its banned-items list and to prohibit passengers from carrying butane lighters aboard planes. Legislation stipulates that the ban must be in place in 60 days.
"We are reviewing the necessary changes that the Transportation Security Administration will need to make based on the new intelligence legislation," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said.
The TSA may also expand the banned-items list to include matches, aviation industry sources have said. No decision has been made, according to one TSA official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But if a ban is enacted, it isn't clear how screeners would detect matches, short of a time-consuming physical search.
In 2003, former TSA head James Loy determined that two lighters and four books of matches were "an acceptable level of risk" to balance security and customer service. But over the next year, Loy's decision was criticized as too lax.
After all, two U.S. senators argued last year, would-be terrorist Richard Reid was one match strike away from igniting explosives in the heel of his shoe aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight.
Other industry observers have said it is disheartening that the TSA and Congress still must tinker with a security problem brought to light in December 2001, rather than focusing on larger issues such as air cargo security or general aviation security.
"You can point to bureaucracy, point to what you like," said David Forbes, president of Colorado-based aviation logistics and government security analysts BoydForbes. "Once you learn a lesson, you apply it. After three years and a huge taxpayers' investment, we have gained virtually zero."
And some question how effectively a ban on lighters, and particularly on matches, could be implemented.
"In some cases it may be difficult to enforce," said David Stempler, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Air Travelers Association. "Many won't show up on X-rays."
Some airports - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Denver, for example - have smoking lounges or areas that could be equipped with lighters similar to car lighters, Stempler said.
But more likely is that airport areas beyond the security checkpoints will become de facto nonsmoking zones, officials said. Some airports, including Dallas/Fort Worth, ban smoking everywhere inside the terminals.
You remind me of my wife!
First FR post of the new year. You, like me, needs to get a "real" life.
Enough already!
"how did the body cavity explosive Chechen women detonate their hidden bombs? there is no reason to have a lighter or matches on a plane, you can't smoke anyway."
No doubt a battery operated detonator.
I need either a lighter or matches to light my cigaretts after I get off the airplane!
Just let the passngers carry guns and the problem is solved, anyone that tries something is dead!
After matches, the next thing to get banned are passenges that had the been barrito special before bording.
Besides I'm on the east coast, if you look at posts based on EST, it's not even near the top of the list.
Sorry for the double posting - my internet provider's been having delay problems. Your wife sounds like a wise woman. You're a lucky man to have her.
I must admit you can do more harm with a lighter on a plane than you can with a nail file. Just be thankful the 9-11 terrorists didn't use a zippo as part of their plot or this would have been banned three years ago.
Essentially, you've got to empty your pockets now before you go to the airport. I normally carry a pocketknife with me but I have to remember now to take it out when I am flying.
"THIS is crazy!"That is stupid! What is next, no shoes, no hand, no teeth, that persons do not know what that persons write. Thank you
Yeah, how are all those sick people in California going to get their medical marijuana started up???
Happily, they are now Approved By Our Rulers once again. Mine sailed through this week no problem.
TSA people are still morons, though - saw more of that firsthand the last few days.
See my tagline. It applies now more than ever.
Next up...strip searches for all passengers. That's the only way to be sure that they aren't carrying all-plastic lighters or matches.
Meanwhile, our borders remain positively open to illegals and other terrorists.
Why don't we just ban air travelers and get it over with.
Well since you can't smoke on any US airline, why would you need either?
Butane lighters tend to flare at altitude, if turned up to high, they can throw a 1 foot long flame jet at altitude.
(Planes are only pressurized to an effective altitude of 5000 feet).
I suspect there is some intelligence (beyond the shoe bomber) to justify this.
I have a ST Dupont lighter that cost me over $400, I haven't carried it on a plane since 9/11 in case they decided to change the rules without my knowing it.
I couldn't agree more. They ban something because some analyst dreams up a "worst case" scenario, while they ignore a known threat.
New travel accessory for smokers.
You need the matches for when you land. Why should you be forced to replace matches or lighters that you already own? You can fly with them TODAY. Why should that be changed?
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