US bans battery shipments on passenger planes

The US Department of Transportation on Friday issued a ban on cargo shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries aboard passenger flights, saying these batteries pose a fire hazard when transported in the cargo hold of passenger aircraft.

Airline passengers, however, will be allowed to carry on board and use, or pack in checked bags, personal computers and other consumer products that contain lithium batteries. Cargo shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries will be permitted on all-cargo flights.

The ban, to go into effect on Dec. 29, will apply to all US-carrier flights and those of foreign carriers into and out of the United States.

The public will be able to file comments on the rule by Feb. 13,2005, and the department's Research and Special Programs Administration, the agency responsible for hazardous materials transportation regulation, plans to hold a public meeting on the issue to determine if adjustments to the rule are necessary, the department said.

"This limited ban raises the level of safety for passenger flights," said Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.

The recent research showed that non-rechargeable lithium batteries pose a special fire risk and are difficult to extinguish even when shipped in relatively small numbers, he said.

The hazardous nature of the batteries is due to the presence of lithium, which has electrochemical properties that make it highly reactive, according to the department.

If a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries caught fire in a flight, current aircraft cargo fire-suppression systems would not be able to extinguish the fire, and a single non-rechargeable lithium battery on fire within a cargo shipment would likely cause all surrounding batteries to catch fire and burn until the entire shipment is consumed, it said.

Burning non-rechargeable lithium batteries could result in molten lithium penetrating the cargo compartment liner or raise air pressure levels high enough to break through the cargo-compartment panels, allowing the fire to spread beyond the cargo compartment to other parts of the aircraft, the department said.

Source: Xinhua