![]() "One member had discussed this proposal with an engineer in their (country's) airworthiness office who was familiar with standards for batteries installed in aircraft," the summary said. Some members of the committee opposed allowing shipments of lithium ion aircraft batteries on passenger planes, saying safety regulations that let the batteries be used onboard planes don't necessarily ensure they can be transported safely as cargo, according to a summary of the meeting posted online by the U.N. Since the batteries have to meet special safety standards in order to be installed on planes, "it is believed that exceeding the (11-pound) limit for passenger aircraft will not compromise safety," the request said. The association argued that the exemption would give airlines "significant operational flexibility in being able to move aircraft batteries on a passenger aircraft where cargo aircraft may not be available over the route, or within the time required if a battery is required at short notice," according to a copy of the request obtained by The Associated Press. ![]() airlines and other carriers that fly internationally, asked for the aircraft battery exemption at the October 2011 meeting of the U.N. The International Air Transport Association, which represents U.S. ![]() All Dreamliners, which are operated by eight airlines in seven countries, have since been grounded. Japanese authorities are investigating a battery failure that led to an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 on Jan. The NTSB is investigating the cause of the 787 battery fire in Boston. Sometimes it's faster to do that using a passenger plane. The aircraft battery exemption was created for the convenience of the airline industry, which wants to be able to quickly ship replacement batteries to planes whose batteries are depleted or have failed. It's the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which weigh less and store more power than other batteries of a similar size. The 787's two batteries weigh 63 pounds each. Shipments of other lithium ion batteries greater than 11 pounds are still prohibited. The new rules allow the shipment of lithium ion batteries weighing as much as 77 pounds, but only if they are aircraft batteries. regulations prohibited the shipment of lithium ion batteries on passenger planes in packages weighing more than 11 pounds, although heavier batteries could be shipped on cargo planes. law at the behest of the battery industry and their shippers says the rules can't be stricter than the U.N. The organization's standards normally aren't binding. agency that sets global aviation standards, adopted the aircraft battery cargo exemption in October 2011, and it went into effect Jan. The International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. shipping requirements with international standards as required by Congress, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a statement. The battery rules were changed in order to conform U.S. The new regulations "need to be looked at very hard in the cold light of day, particularly with what has happened with the 787 batteries." "The potential for self-ignition, for uncontained fires, is huge," he said. ![]() "Any transport of lithium batteries on commercial aircraft for any purpose should be suspended until (an) NTSB investigation is complete and we know more about this entire issue."Ĭhesley "Sully" Sullenberger, a former US Airways pilot famed for his precision flying that enabled passengers and crew to survive an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York, said in an interview that he wouldn't be comfortable flying an airliner that carried lithium ion aircraft batteries in its cargo hold. "These incidents have raised the whole issue of lithium batteries and their use in aviation," said Jim Hall, a former National Transportation Safety Board chairman. If the 787's battery system is too risky to allow the planes to fly, then it's too risky to ship the same batteries as cargo on airliners, they said. Pilots and safety advocates say the situation doesn't make sense. ![]()
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