The DOT cites a U.S. Fire Administration report listing more than two dozen e-cigarette-related explosions and fires that have taken place since 2009, including a few that involved e-cigarettes that were in checked luggage on airplanes.
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A federal rule was recently issued that bans the use of e-cigarettes on flights, as well as its storage in checked baggage.
The fear is the same, that a bag containing an e-cigarette could cause a catastrophic fire on an aircraft in flight causing it to crash. “Banning e-cigarettes from checked bags is a prudent safety measure”. However, to prevent passenger or crewmember confusion, DOT has proposed to amend its existing airline smoking rule to explicitly ban use of electronic cigarettes aboard aircraft. The worldwide Civil Aviation Organization of the United Nations issued a similar flight recommendation in December 2014.
“Given the safety risks posed by e-cigarettes in checked baggage, PHMSA believes that public notice would frustrate the due and required execution of agency functions”, the agency said. “Although a few airlines have voluntarily complied with the SAFO recommendations, there is no domestic regulation to require continued compliance with the recently adopted ICAO amendment”.
On Monday, the DOT sent out a bulletin saying that the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration along with the Federal Aviation Administration had prohibited “the carriage of battery powered portable electronic smoking devices (e.g. e-cigarettes, e-cigs, e-cigars, e-pipes, personal vaporizers, electronic nicotine delivery systems) in checked baggage”.
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The full notice of the new rule on e-cigarettes can be read here.
