Passenger planes should be banned from carrying large numbers of lithium batteries as cargo, says a UN aviation watchdog.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation says the ban is necessary because batteries can create intense fires that could destroy aircraft.
The ban is scheduled to come into force on 1 April.
Adoption of the ICAO decision is not compulsory but many countries do adopt the agency’s recommendations.
The ban does not affect the batteries inside gadgets people take into the passenger cabins of planes.
The ban will remain in place until at least 2018 when the ICAO is expected to conclude work on safe ways to pack and transport the batteries, said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, president of the ICAO council.
The Rechargeable Battery Association, which fought the ban, said its members were preparing to comply. It added that the transport restriction could lead to “significant disruption in the logistics supply chain”, especially for medical devices.
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I can understand the dangerous nature of these batteries but you would have thought that there should have just been strict regulations on how they were carried (how they are packaged etc) not an outright ban.
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If you can have them in a device just not floating around in your carry on it shouldn’t be much of an issue considering you can’t vape on a plane anyhow. Just throw the spare batteries into checked baggage and you’re good.
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One would think that fire proof bags like the RC peeps use when charging lipo packs would make it a non issue but then again it is much easier to simply ban. We have airline approved pet porters , gun cases and so forth, perhaps someone could start a nice business by designing small airline approved battery cases.
I am sure if they (Airlines) can find a way to tack on a fee ,they will find a way to allow batteries to fly!
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It seems that were are at a point where we ban things instead of addressing and dealing the risks. Pretty pathetic way to live.
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Hmmm. There is totally an inheritant safety risk with some of these shippers. The manufactures are not going to spend the billions to ensure the batteries are safe enough for passenger aircrafts.
Look the the new Boeing plane that kept on having battery fire problems. I’d prefer my plane to not fall out of the sky due to careless shipping practices. The list goes on and on from there. Extreme temp changes in the cargo hold between take off and landing. Pressurization of the cargo hold. Proper loading procedures.
It is also an unfortunate thing to say, but the regulations between a freight carrier with three piolets vs a passenger aircraft is different. Atleast here in the US.
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Well i had no idea that two plane crashes have been blamed on batt fires:
"The Federal Aviation Administration has endorsed a global plan to ban shipment of lithium-ion batteries aboard airplanes, a practice blamed for bringing down two jetliners when the batteries burst into flames.
A trade group for battery manufacturers warned that the prohibition may disrupt the flow of batteries for medical devices, cellphones, laptop computers, power tools and other electronic devices. The ban would apply to bulk shipments and not to electronic devices that people carry onto airplanes.
Fires that caused the crashes of two Boeing 747s — one in Dubai in 2010 and one in South Korea in 2011 — were blamed on battery shipments. And in 2013, the FAA grounded the entire fleet of Boeing 787s after a series of battery fires."
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There are even more stories of li battery issues. There where two somewhat recent stories of planes diverting to other airports due to the batteries in the hover board thingys and many of the airlines are started banning them from their planes end of last year.
People so take for granted that the pressure changes experianced in flight can cause issues. Hence why it’s. It good to fly when having serious medical issues and for that matter pets.