[NSRCA-discussion] LIPOs on board?

[John Gayer]

This article appeared in the Albuquerque Journal this morning. I was not 
aware that large shipments of lithium batteries could still be just 
under my seat on my next flight. We all know what havoc a single 10S 
pack can do if it catches fire. I find it hard to believe that an 
airliner could survive a palletfull going up. It's no surprise that the 
fire suppressant they used had no effect.
There is a proposed rule going into effect the first of the year that is 
supposed to eliminate commercial shipments from passenger airliners- if 
it isn't blocked or postponed. I wonder what the checkin counter 
response would be to a question of whether there is a shipment of lipos 
on board? Think they could even find out that information?

John Gayer


    Shipments of lithium-ion units raise concerns over fires, blasts

WASHINGTON --- Dramatic U.S. government test results raise new concern 
that bulk shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries carried as cargo 
on passenger planes are susceptible to fires or explosions that could 
destroy the airliners.

/This video frame grab shows a test of a cargo container packed with 
5,000 lithium-ion batteries and a cartrid/This video frame grab shows a 
test of a cargo container packed with 5,000 lithium-ion batteries and a 
cartridge heater that resulted in a fire and explosion.

Yet U.S. and international officials have been slow to adopt safety 
restrictions that might affect the powerful industries that depend on 
the batteries and the airlines that profit from shipping them. The 
batteries are used in products ranging from cellphones and laptops to 
hybrid cars.

Shipments of rechargeable batteries on passenger planes are supposed to 
be limited to no more than a handful in a single box, under safety 
standards set by the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization 
and adopted by the U.S. and other nations. But a loophole permits 
shippers to pack many small boxes into one shipment and get around the 
rules. Tens of thousands of the batteries may be packed into pallets or 
containers and loaded into the cargo holds of wide-body passenger planes.

In an April test by the Federal Aviation Administration, a cargo 
container was packed with 5,000 lithium-ion batteries and a cartridge 
heater added to simulate a single battery experiencing uncontrolled 
overheating. The heat from the cartridge triggered escalating 
overheating in nearby batteries, which spread in a chain reaction. 
Temperatures reached about 1,100 degrees.

Once about 300 batteries had become involved, a fierce explosion blew 
open the container door and sent boxes flying, catching FAA and industry 
observers by surprise. Within seconds, the cargo container was in 
flames. The explosion came from a buildup of flammable gases. A second 
test in September produced similar results, despite the addition of a 
fire suppression agent.

The U.N.'s civil aviation agency is considering a series of proposals to 
strengthen packaging, labeling and handling standards for lithium-ion 
battery shipments, and airline pilot unions are pushing for limits on 
the number of batteries that can be transported.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nsrca.org/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20141203/479f5eb4/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: clip_image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 41739 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.nsrca.org/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20141203/479f5eb4/attachment.jpg>