Lithium battery fires: FAA to back ban on passenger plane shipments

© Khunaspix Dreamstime.

The FAA has backed a proposed ban on the carriage of proposed rechargeable lithium batteries in passenger aircraft. Calling the risk “immediate and urgent”, in a meeting to discuss the US’s position on safety standards, the FAA showed research showing the possibility of explosions. Pilots propose that the ban continues until better packaging or other ways of mitigating the risk is available. The battery industry said it should be up to individual airlines ? more than a dozen of which ...