FYI: folk travelling by air to or within the United States will not be allowed to carry lithium batteries, whether loose or in battery packs for equipment like laptops or cameras, in their checked-in luggage for safety reasons beginning January 1, 2008, by order of the US Department of Transportation.
Lithium batteries will have to be inserted into the hardware they’re meant for and be handcarried to pass. If loose they’ll have to be enclosed in a ziplock plastic bag or remain sealed in their original packaging, and stowed in your carry-on luggage, with a limit of two lithium batteries to a passenger. (Do they differentiate between single batteries and battery packs? Do coin-shaped lithium batteries count? Are computer batteries and camera batteries counted together or separately? Hmmm.)
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, if lithium batteries catch fire in the cargo hold, current built-in extinguishing and safety measures won’t be able to deal with it. This sort of situation is widely speculated as the cause of a fire at an airport in Philadelphia in 2006.
Bummer for us road warriors who like to carry extras.
(Via The New York Times)
December 31st, 2007 at 2:59 am
This regulatory restriction came into play as a result of 19 documented in-aircraft fires involving lithium batteries in a six month period. We are all paying for the self-centered acts of those gluttonous individuals that choose to just throw an extra half dozen or so spare un-protected batteries into their baggage. Since that group cannot apply common sense, the USDOT has chosen to mandate common sense. Most of us realize that anytime a battery without terminal protection (tape over the + and - sides of the battery) is thrown loosely into our baggage there is a chance of short cuircut in which case the batteries can get hot enough to catch fire.
All that the DOT is doing is finally enforcing rules which already exist with Section 2.3.5.10 & 2.3.5.10.2 of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations.
I am all for enforcing the limiting the number of batteries per passenger, for it has a realistic safety payback (not like confiscating my 125mL toothpaste tube with 25 mL left inside). I believe that all other countries should follow suite.