Batteries on planes

[Ron Hearn]

Hi

Not directly related to vintage diving or its equipment, I thought I'd pass this notice around as some of you may be going on dive trips and using lights and cameras that use these types of batteries.

Ron

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Flight Safety Announcement...

Effective December 29th, Lithium Batteries are banned from Airline Cargo Holds. This ban does not effect passengers using Lithium Batteries with consumer electronics in the passenger compartment. The FAA is concerned that fires caused by the batteries can't be doused by an aircraft's fire suppression system.

Burning batteries can explode and throw off molten lithium, which can penetrate the wall of the cargo hold, and they can raise air pressure levels high enough to break the panels. In both cases, the fire could spread into other parts of the aircraft.

The ban goes into effect on Dec. 29.

[John C Ratliff]

I do not think this interpretation is correct (the one above). Please look over the following link:

www.dot.gov/affairs/faa001.htm

In it, there is this statement:

The hazardous nature of the batteries is due to the presence of lithium, which has electrochemical properties that make it highly reactive. RSPA and FAA, working with fire-safety experts at the FAA’s Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ, found that if a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries caught fire in flight, current aircraft cargo fire-suppression systems would not be able to extinguish the fire. 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. 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. FAA researchers also found that any fire in an aircraft cargo compartment -- regardless of location or cause, and even if suppressed -- could raise the cargo compartment temperature enough to self-ignite a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries.

However, individual shipments of properly secured and packaged equipment containing small lithium batteries (e.g., a laptop computer) still will be allowed on passenger flights. Also, cargo shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries will be permitted on all-cargo flights.

From what I can tell here, the regulations are regarding the shipment of commercial quantities of these batteries (a box of batteries, for instance) and not a battery in a "properly secured and packaged" piece of diving equipment or underwater camera gear.

SeaRat