WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. aviation security agency reportedly wants the airline ban on lighters lifted because screeners are spending too much time looking for them.
Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration, was quoted as telling USA Today the ban on passengers carrying lighters aboard airplanes "does not add to security any more."
Hawley told the newspaper requiring screeners to confiscate lighters at checkpoints "is a distraction from the serious nature of finding (bomb) components."
He wants Congress to consider whether to continue the ban which was enacted because of concerns a terrorist could light explosives on an airplane, such as those "shoe bomber" Richard Reid tried to set off in 2001, the report said.
Last year, the TSA lifted its ban on scissors and tools less than 7 inches long so screeners could focus on finding bombs, the report said.
