Filed under: Portables, Odds and ends
Travel reminder: Spare laptop batteries now verboten in checked bags
Planning a big trip in the new year? Someplace, I dunno, kinda hilly and foggy? If you're bringing along spare batteries for your laptop, take note of new FAA regulations starting January 1: lithium batteries, such as the Li-ion packs that power the MacBook Pro, are no longer permitted in checked baggage due to a remote risk of fire. Two extra batteries may be carried in carry-on luggage, but spares should be packed in individual clear plastic bags to reduce the short-circuit risk; the FAA also has other tips for safe packing.While I understand that the FAA has to err on the side of caution, this restriction seems faintly ridiculous to me. Still, if you're not in the mood to argue with TSA staff when you travel (never a good idea), there are always alternatives.
[via CNET]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AJ said 3:48PM on 12-31-2007
I quite carrying luggage on planes. The TSA steals stuff out of your bags, the crews toss your bags around without any regard, and no one will be responsible enough to take the blame. I always just FedEx my stuff now because the airlines are so pathetic.
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Pat. said 3:57PM on 12-31-2007
Your an idiot. Take a few moments to research the cause of the ValueJet crash in Florida a few years. You know the one where most of the passengers were eaten by alligators . That too came down to a couple of folk who thought FAA rules about what should and should not be stored in the hold were 'ridiculous' and just a tad anal.
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LD said 4:35PM on 12-31-2007
Uh, no, that came down to a few people putting,volatile, explosive, hazardous materials on the plane, not a couple of laptop batteries.
Pat. said 5:12PM on 12-31-2007
Yup. Such obviously volatile things as a couple of aircraft tires and a box of (spent) oxygen canisters that still had their explosive charge on them. Pretty innocuous stuff, like a laptop battery. Couple them though with a tired pilot, a maintenance supervisor that wanted to go home early, the only available space being the hold closest to the cockpit and throw in a little acceleration on take-off and.. voila... The FAA maybe over cautious.. but ridiculous? I might say that once I have my team of 3,000 people go through the scenarios until then.. I'll carry my laptop where I can see it.. and.. put my iPhone in airplane mode...and when we are on the same aircraft it would be polite if you could do the same.. thx.
Michael Rose said 5:21PM on 12-31-2007
You're really equating lithium batteries and oxygen generators? Wow. Remind me never to send you out to the store for a box of matches.
For everyone who's concerned about flying with me, don't worry; I plan to comply with the regs.
"who packs multiple batteries" -- well, any lithium cell is covered by the regs, so -- pro photographers/videographers, for a start.
Kevin said 1:16PM on 1-01-2008
Are you an idiot? The passengers died on impact, not eaten by alligators. Nice work trying to attach two unrelated things together.
jamesn said 4:02PM on 12-31-2007
You know what, Michael you're right. Limiting when and where batteries can be carried is completely ridiculous. I mean, we all know that fires in cargo holds are cool! Especially when the plane is at about 30K feet.
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ogvor said 4:33PM on 12-31-2007
The "liquid explosives" and such were ridiculous precautions becuase it was proven you couldnt make one strong enough without gallons of liquid. Lithium battieries exploding is something we have seen I really doesn't seem to be to much a stretch to be a called a danger to airplanes, especially if one ignited in the cargo hold and caught the plane on fire.
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Michael Rose said 5:23PM on 12-31-2007
Part of what doesn't make sense about the regs is that batteries inside laptops can still be checked, as a system -- that's much more dangerous, as a sleeping laptop might wake accidentally and overheat. A standalone battery, if packaged to prevent shorting, is less likely to cause problems.
Again, I am in no way suggesting that anyone disobey the regulations; I would recommend FedExing your spare batteries if needed.
ogvor said 11:39PM on 12-31-2007
That is a valid point and it makes you wonder like almost everything the FAA does if this is just to make everything appear safe or if something bad happens they can just say "Oh but we had regulations". I read something recently about a pilot getting really pissed off about all these regulations pointing out that even a plastic spoon could simply be sharpened into a knife in a bathroom.
thethirdmoose said 4:45PM on 12-31-2007
Who carries more than 2 spare laptop batteries anyways?
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Michael Rose said 5:23PM on 12-31-2007
Photographers.
andrew said 5:30PM on 12-31-2007
@ thethirdmoose. why terrorist thats who!!!!
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Dave Barnes said 6:56PM on 12-31-2007
A better alternative is http://netjets.com/
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Wojtek said 7:21PM on 12-31-2007
This of course is only applicable to flights from, within or to the US of A. The rest of the World may sleep in peace. It would be nice, if someone writing this post would take in account that to the majority of World population TRAVELLING means a bit more than moving between two parts of a single country.
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Boing said 8:45PM on 12-31-2007
I'm afraid the blog entry has several key points wrong. At least Michael is trying - but the reality is that he's reading other (wrong) reporters rather than the actual facts.
Here are the two relevant government links:
http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html and
http://www.tsa.dhs.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/batteries.shtm
The plastic bag reference is regarding putting loose batteries in checked baggage - nothing to do with carry-on. It actually doesn't have any plastic bag requirement at all, that's just one of the things you can do to stop any metal contact points from being exposed. They also suggest tape over the contacts, etc.
The 2 battery thing is also not entirely correct. It states "You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold." If I'm not mistaken MBP batteries are well below 8-grams so you can carry as many as you like as long as they are in your carry on bag.
Any way you look at it the whole thing is completely stupid since all of the requirements speak to the amount of lithium in a given battery. It should be interesting to see how the TSA responds when you ask them how much lithium is in a given battery... :)
If you want to be 'safety' conscious stick some electric tape over the contacts of all your batteries, put them in individual zip lock bags, label them with their individual lithium content and go read about OCD.
This is all probably stemming from some government bureaucrat being told to take more Lithium for their Manic-Depression.
:)
Boing!
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Darren said 2:02PM on 1-03-2008
Um, the rules about lithium batteries are the result of a DOT decision regarding the ability of current on-craft fire-suppression systems to adequately deal with a fire if a large quantity of lithium is burning. They've had rules about lithium batteries as cargo for some time now, and are merely extending the safety considerations to checked and carry-on luggage.
Also note that hardly any laptop-wielding traveler will even be affected. Most likely affected are A/V professionals, or people who otherwise travel with *lots* of tech.
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