Aviation News Item: 00398

26th Aug 2009

Source: ubmaviationnews.com

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents flight crew in Canada and the US, has called on the US government to prohibit shipments of lithium batteries on passenger and all-cargo aircraft until new regulations are in place. The union said that, over the past two months, fire, smoke or evidence of fire associated with battery shipments had occurred aboard three separate US commercial aircraft. These incidents were similar to a 2006 battery fire aboard a DC-8 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which prompted the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to recommend the full regulation of these types of batteries as dangerous goods. Lithium batteries provide power, e.g. to laptop computers, mobile phones, flashlights and cameras.

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