Passengers on Southwest Airlines flights will soon need a portable charger to keep them in front of them. Lithium battery fire With new policies that other airlines may adopt.
Southwest announced a new policy that will take effect on May 28, saying passengers may already be seeing notices about the rules when using the airline’s app. Southwest was the first US airline to restrict the use of portable chargers, but several Asian airlines took action earlier this year. A catastrophic fire Take the Air Force Busan plane waiting to take off from the South Korean airport in January.
As the number of incidents continues to grow every year and devices with these batteries are ubiquitous, concerns are growing about lithium-ion battery fires on planes. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have already been 19 incidents involved in these batteries this year, following the 89 records last year. statistics.
The incident has more than doubled in 2020 from the low of 39 during the pandemic era, and is rising every year.
Compared to the roughly 180,000 flights run weekly by US airlines, the number of incidents is still relatively small, and lithium batteries can be over-occurring everywhere. However, this has led to increased concern for airlines.
A Korean airline fire in January burned the roof of the plane, which forced all 176 people on the plane to evacuate. The cause of the fire has not been officially determined, but several airlines and South Korean regulators have since taken action against portable chargers.
Korean Airlines will not allow chargers to be stored in overhead bins. They should be packed in plastic bags or cover the ports with insulation tape to prevent them from touching the metal.
Additionally, both Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways have prohibited the use or charging of portable power banks during flights.
Last summer, Smoking laptop Passenger bags led to the evacuation of the plane waiting for takeoff at San Francisco International Airport. In 2023, a flight from Orlando, Florida to Orlando, Florida made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida after battery I set it on fire with an overhead bottle.
Southwest said it would be helpful to require these chargers to be stored open when they are in use.
Airlines will allow you to store your chargers in carry-on baggage when they are not in use.
Transportation Security Management E-cigarettes, chargers and power banks with lithium-ion batteries in check bags have been banned for a long time. Allow them in carry-on baggage. Rules exist because it can be difficult to detect and destroy cargo storage fires.
The FAA recommends that passengers keep mobile phones and other devices nearby on the plane, so they will be accessible quickly. The agency said flight crews are trained to recognize and respond to lithium battery fires. Passengers must notify the squadron immediately if the lithium battery or device is overheating, magnifying, smoking, or burning.
Previous Report Released last year by UL Standards & Engagement, it said that e-cigarettes overheat more frequently than any other device. More than a quarter of the passengers surveyed for that study said they put vaping cigarettes and portable chargers in their check bags. It goes against federal regulations.
UL Standard and Engagement, part of a safety sciences company once known as Underwriters Laboratories, said it was based on data on 35 passengers and cargo aviation, including nine of the 10 major US major passenger carriers.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
