Recent fires on commercial airliners have prompted the U.S. Dept....
Recent fires on commercial airliners have prompted the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DoT) to issue new safety guidelines on packing and handling lithium-ion batteries for notebook PCs and other portable electronic devices. Spare lithium-ion battery packs should be enclosed…
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in plastic bags and packed in carry-ons, never in checked luggage, DoT said. Spares should be packed in their original retail packaging, and loose cells should be wrapped in insulating tape to prevent contact with other metal objects, the department said. Only chargers matched to a specific battery type should be used, and low-price knockoffs should be avoided, it said. Care also should be taken to prevent powerpacks from being crushed, punctured or dropped, DoT said. Fire broke out in an overhead baggage compartment on a JetBlue flight Feb. 10, and a preliminary investigation found that loose batteries may have been the cause, DoT said. And last week, the agency said it received reports that a battery ignited aboard an American Airlines flight from Argentina. In both cases, flight attendants put out the fires and the planes landed safely, DoT said. The agency said it’s talking with battery and device manufacturers on enhanced safety requirements that include improved battery design, testing, labeling, and packaging standards.