The Airline Pilots Association International (ALPA), the largest pilot's union in the world, has called for a federal ban on the shipment of lithium batteries on both passenger and cargo aircraft. ALPA contends that the current guidelines for shipping these batteries on aircraft are insufficient to ensure the safety of flying with them, as evidenced by recent inflight fires including one on a Federal Express aircraft en-route to the Twin Cities. The union is calling for a ban to be instituted now and remain in effect until new stronger rules are in place.
While lithium batteries are used in laptop computers, cameras, flashlights and cell phones, ALPA is not requesting a ban on items carried onto flights by travelers. Rather, they are primarily concerned about the transporting of larger quantities of the batteries as cargo.
There have been three incidents in the last two months of fires on-board aircraft. In addition to the Federal Express fire on a Indianapolis to Minneapolis/St. Paul cargo flight, there were fires on aircraft in the Dominican Republic and Honolulu. The FedEx fire was reported during approach at about 5 a.m. on August 7. The fire was quickly controlled and there were no injuries as the aircraft landed safely.
In 2006 a battery-induced fire on a DC-8 aircraft in Philadelphia led to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommending federal regulations be instituted on these types of cargo. Mark Rogers, director of ALPA's Dangerous Goods Programs, said, "The evidence is mounting . We need an immediate ban on these dangerous goods to protect airline passengers, crews and cargo." ALPA has been asking the Department of Transportation (DOT) to take action about this situation since 2004.
