Panel rejects ban on air shipments of fire-prone batteries

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In what appears to be a victory for battery-maker lobbying groups over the safety of passengers, ICAO’s dangerous goods panel has voted against a ban on carrying rechargeable battery shipments on passenger aircraft. This comes despite severe warnings from Boeing and Airbus that this posed “an unacceptable risk”, while the FAA said the risk was “immediate and urgent”. The panel did agree on restrictions, such as limiting the number of batteries that can be shipped without the airline being informed, as well as that batteries should only be 30% charged. Some 30 airlines have independently banned them, but IATA and 10 countries, mostly European, voted against the ban.