Yahoo – AFP,
23 February 2016
The UN
agency responsible for air travel standards has banned the transportation of
lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft, saying they pose a
serious fire hazard (AFP Photo/Kenzo Tribouillard)
Montreal
(AFP) - The UN agency responsible for air travel standards has banned the
transportation of lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft, saying
they pose a serious fire hazard.
The
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says the temporary measure
will last until it adopts new packaging standards in 2018.
Set to take
effect on April 1, the ban will exclude lithium-ion batteries in laptops
transported in airplane cabins by passengers or crew, the Montreal-based
agency's governing council said in a statement.
"This
interim prohibition will continue to be in force as separate work continues
through ICAO on a new lithium battery packaging performance standard, currently
expected by 2018," ICAO council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said.
Although
the ban is non-binding, most countries follow the agency's standards.
Airlines
and pilot associations had requested the ban citing security reasons, the ICAO
said.
Many
airlines have already voluntarily stopped transporting battery shipments.
Two serious
cases of overheating in lithium-ion batteries took place in January 2013, both
on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The first
occurred aboard a plane parked in Boston. The second took place on an All
Nippon Airways plane over Japan, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
Regulators
grounded all Dreamliners then in operation for more than three months.
Earlier
this month, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned against the risk of
"catastrophic explosion" in lithium-ion batteries transported in
aircraft cargo holds.
FAA tests
showed aircraft fire-suppression systems are incapable of preventing such
explosions, including in mobile phones and laptops.
Lithium-ion
batteries are used in a large range of products from laptops to electric cars.
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