The rules around portable batteries are becoming increasingly confusing as some Asia airlines are changing their policies, reporting the risk of fires.
Airlines in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore have increased restrictions after a fire destroyed an aircraft plane on the asphalt in South Korea in January, one of the recent aviation accidents made by travelers.
There is no definitive connection between portable batteries and Air Busan fire and research is being carried out. But because the rules vary in all airlines, you may find that you have to reconnect or turn off such batteries when boarding a plane. Here’s what you need to know.
Which airlines have changed their rules and why?
As of March 1, passengers at all South Korean airlines must maintain their portable chargers in the ARM and air bins. The government has applied the rule to facilitate anxiety about the risk of battery fire, the Ministry of Transport said.
Some Taiwan airlines have applied similar changes that also came into force on March 1st. Eva Air and China Airlines have announced the ban on the use or charge of power banks on their airplanes, although batteries can still be stored in apartments.
Thai Airways, the Thai flagship, said it would implement a similar prohibition on the use and debit of power banks, saying “incidents of fires in flight to international airlines, suspected of being linked to the use of the Bank of Energy”. The last thing to follow was Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary, Scoot, which announced their own ban on Wednesday.
Since 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Organization Coordinating World Aviation regulations, has banned lithium -ion batteries, the species usually found in electricity banks from passenger cargo.
However, there is no industrial model for how airlines regulate power banks, said Mitchell Fox, director of the Asian -Pacific Center for Air Force.
They have become part of everyday life only in recent years and some consumers may ignore the dangers, he said. “When you have a pop issue, it takes a while to catch everyone.”
What are the risks behind these batteries?
Lithium -ion batteries have been used for decades to supply smartphones and laptops and are usually used in portable power banks.
Each lithium -ion battery has a cell that can be warm quickly in a chain reaction that causes it to catch or explode. The federal aviation administration warns that this reaction can occur if the battery is damaged, overloaded, overheating or exposed to water. It can also occur if the battery has a production defect.
Some products that use lithium -ion batteries, including smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles, have strict regulations and quality control standards, said Neeraj Sharma, a chemistry professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Others, such as energy banks, electronic cigarettes and vehicles, such as electronic bikes and scooters, are less regulated, reported, increasing the risk of malfunction.
“Make sure you have received your devices from trusted manufacturers,” Professor Sharma said.
How often do batteries burn the planes?
Incidents involving lithium -ion batteries in US airlines are increasing. There were 84 last year, from 32 in 2016. These included cases – in the cabins of both passengers and aircraft – where the batteries fell, they emit tobacco or overheating. Portable chargers were the largest culprit in these incidents, followed by electronic cigarettes, according to FAA
Airlines around the world require passengers to pack reserve lithium -ion batteries in their luggage, instead of their tested bags, so that any smoke or fire can quickly be observed from the batteries. In Cargo Hold, a fire cannot be detected by the automatic fire system of an airplane until it has already become a critical problem.
“If there is a fire, you would prefer to have it in the cabin than checked luggage and prefer to have it closer to a person and not to the bucket, where it is more difficult to get out and manage the fire,” said Keith Tonkin, a managing director of the Air Force.
What do flight crews do when there is a fire?
Cottle fires caused by lithium -ion batteries are rarely deadly and flight crews are generally well prepared to deal with them, Mr Tonkin said.
In many cases, passengers will observe the overheating of their electronics and inform crew members, who will put the device in a heated reservation bag or in water, with a minimal flight disorder, according to FAA in some cases, employees or passengers will notice or passengers.
In 2024, two portable batteries connected to each other caused a fire from Bangkok to Seoul operated by Eastar Jet, a South Korean budget, according to Yonhap, a South Korean news agency. The flight crew noticed the smoke and immediately threw water into the batteries to sink the fire, the organization said.
