The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned USA airline passengers not to pack spare lithium batteries in their checked baggage.
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It doesn’t appear there has been an outright ban on packing batteries into your checked luggage; rather, airlines are being strongly encouraged to prevent passengers from doing so, and to give passengers an extra warning about it when they arrived at check-in and ticket purchase.
An FAA-produced video shows the disastrous effects of a lithium battery fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that airlines remind passengers when they are being ticketed and checked-in that lithium batteries are prohibited from checked baggage, including those checked at gates. If they are found during a random search, the batteries may be removed, leaving you in quite a pickle.
On Monday, an Alaska Air flight from Newark to Seattle made an unscheduled stop in Buffalo, New York, after cabin crew were obliged to take a fire extinguisher to a flight attendant’s smoking credit card machine.
As many portable electronic devices contain lithium batteries, the FAA safety alert refers to those batteries that are not installed in a portable electronic device.
And while carrying on your batteries has always been the smart move, the FAA is being stricter on how you pack them in carry-on luggage.
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The FAA says the batteries can ignite and cause fires in baggage compartments. They should also be kept away from other metal objects, and there are size and quantity restrictions as well.
