This just came in from the TSA list server:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin enforcing a ban, beginning today, on all types of lighters from the secure areas of airports and onboard airplanes. The policy is in response to a requirement in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. TSA announced the ban in February and set aside 45 days to educate the traveling public about the ban.

"Terrorists constantly seek innovative means to cause harm, and this requires appropriate risk mitigation," said Rear Adm. David M. Stone, USN (Ret.), Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for TSA. "This policy provides another layer of protection in TSA’s overall security plan."

All lighters are now banned from sterile areas beyond security checkpoints at airports. This includes, for example, butane, absorbed-fuel, electric/battery-powered and novelty lighters.

The Department of Transportation classifies lighters as hazardous materials, and prohibits them from being stowed in checked baggage. TSA will dispose of lighters brought to checkpoints. Passengers at some airports may be able to ship them via a private company for a fee, but TSA strongly urges passengers to thoroughly inspect their carry-on and checked baggage for these items before going to the airport.

For more information regarding TSA, please visit our Web site at www.tsa.gov.

(Edited by JJJ to add graphic)

Hugh,

"...the potential hazard of dumping a large number of lighters into a container... "

I envision a multitude of "Need a Lighter? Take a Lighter.  Have a Lighter?  Leave a Lighter" bins near terminal doors.  Of course, someone will have to be in charge of distributing the "Departures" lighters to the "Arrivals" bins.

So, would this be a good time to buy Bic stock?  Or not?

Dave

http://www.alwaysakumal.com

Carolyn...

USA TODAY's "Today in the Sky" column (by USA TODAY reporter Ben Mutzabaugh) has an excellent account of what's happening with all those lighters that the TSA is corralling! (To read the article, look to the right of the  ASK BEN  box.) The article includes the following:

Lighter ban catches fliers off guard: Despite heavy news coverage around the new ban on lighters, the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) policy is catching fliers by surprise. Hawaii's KGMB-9 News reports that more than 630 lighters were confiscated by midday at Honolulu International, and that scene was apparently playing out at other airports across the nation.

Jim

(Edited to correct font color.)

CR...

» Just goes to show all those people caught unawares should have been reading THE TRAVEL FORUM! «

I agree ... THE Travel Forum is THE best place in cyberspace for travel information! 'Nuff said!

» (I do feel sorry for the people who have to give up expensive, engraved lighters with sentimental value. I have a soft heart, sometimes.) «

Hey, how about feeling just a tad bit sorry for us smokers (I know, but don't start in on me to give it up!) ... who will be arriving at some distant airport after multiple hours aboard an aluminum tube without being able to puff a cigarette ... only to land without our favorite lighter! <ARGH>

J³

<< How about TSA matches with security tips printed inside the cover? >>

Like Do Not Strike Here ? <g>

Hugh
Windows XP Pro build 2600 + SP2.....MSIE6
Connecting through RoadRunner Cable Modem

Amigo...

» I envision a multitude of "Need a Lighter? Take a Lighter.  Have a Lighter?  Leave a Lighter" bins near terminal doors.  Of course, someone will have to be in charge of distributing the "Departures" lighters to the "Arrivals" bins. «

Well, I seriously doubt that anybody at the "tsa" (typed lower case ... since I personally don't feel the department worthy of being capitalized!) has the smarts to arrange to have lighters taken from departing passengers doled out to arriving passengers!

In any event, I'm reminded of the query (paraphrased here!), "Do you feel safer now?"  Add an addendum to that ... "since we are now protecting the flying public from LMD? (LMD = Lighters of Mass Destruction! <yawn>

Jim

Jim,

If Richard Reid had thought far enough ahead to have brought a lighter on his flight we'd likely still be wondering what happened to AA flight 63 and all of her passengers and crew.  The added difficulty in lighting the fuse with a match, and the associated oder from the matches, is what allowed the crew and passengers time to stop him.

A friend runs a flight park near the BNA airport.  He's taken advantage of this situation by buying a lot of cheap lighters with his business logo which are available for returning passengers to take.

Hugh
Windows XP Pro build 2600 + SP2.....MSIE6
Connecting through RoadRunner Cable Modem

Hugh
Windows XP Pro build 2600 + SP2.....MSIE6
Connecting through RoadRunner Cable Modem