Airlines such as Emirates, Virgin update rules as lithium battery incidents increase
Airlines routinely warn passengers about dropping or losing battery-powered devices in flight and advise them to ask for help rather than trying to find electronic items themselves.
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In January, an Air Busan plane caught fire while preparing for takeoff in Busan, South Korea, injuring 27 people. The fire broke out as a result of the explosion of the electrical bank in the luggage compartment of the plane.
South Korea imposed nationwide restrictions on power banks in March.
The Federal Aviation Administration has documented 660 confirmed cases of lithium battery incidents involving power banks, e-cigarettes or electronic cigarettes, phones and laptops.
Airlines are trying to eliminate the risk of a device getting damaged underfoot or under the seat, which could cause the battery to overheat or catch fire.
Although they cannot be charged on board, Emirates allows customers to carry a power bank under 100 watt-hours and the capacity rating of the battery must be visible.
Emirates’ guidelines address the risk of power banks overheating or catching fire by restricting them from being placed in the overhead bin onboard. Instead, they need to be placed “in a seat pocket or a bag under the seat in front of you,” making them handy.
The company said Qantas is monitoring the situation closely but has not made any policy changes at this time. Still, the advice for passengers is to keep portable chargers within easy reach during the flight.
International Air Transport Association, for those traveling with luggage smart luggage with integrated lithium batteries “personal electronic device”. Civil Aviation Safety says that if the battery cannot be removed from the bag, the bag cannot be checked in.
Sonya Brown, a senior lecturer in aerospace design at UNSW, said a number of factors were driving the policy change towards power banks.
Weather disasters and scares are increasing awareness of the risks from rechargeable power banks. Brown said incidents are occurring more frequently because there are many more electronic devices in use. CASA estimates that each passenger now carries an average of four battery-powered devices.
“This increases the potential for things to go wrong when these devices malfunction, become damaged, overcharged or overheat.” Brown said it would be “difficult” for airlines to impose an outright ban on power banks being brought on board.
Brown said a possible first step would be to ban power banks like Emirates’ use on aircraft.
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RMIT Aviation professor Chrystal Zhang said airlines have long considered lithium-ion batteries to be hazardous materials, but only from a “cargo perspective” that includes shipping companies and manufacturers.
“As more passengers take mobile devices that carry these batteries into the cabin, it requires cabin crew to deal with emergencies,” he said.
He said it was no surprise that airlines were being “proactive.”
“I think they need to take proactive and preventative measures to ensure cabin safety is maintained at a high level.”
