Are Lithium-ion Laptop Batteries the Next Threat to Airline Safety?

Worried about a possible terrorist strike, American Airlines flight attendants confiscated 58 cellphones, lithium-ion laptop batteries and charging devices from a passenger on a June 23 New York flight to Buenos Aires. In April, Tokyo police and fire officials rushed to a baggage area at Narita airport after a curling iron powered by a lithium-ion battery caused a passenger's checked bag to burst into flames as it was being shuttled from an American Airlines jet to a connecting flight. Lithium-ion batteries - the rechargeable energy source for cellphones, laptop computers and an increasing number of other portable electronic devices - are becoming a growing concern for airlines in passenger cabins and cargo holds. Lithium-battery experts, security analysts and flight attendants wonder, though, if stricter rules are also needed in airline passenger cabins to prevent fires or worse: a possible attempt by a terrorist to bring down a plane by rigging a large number of batteries together to start a fire. The passenger, who spent more than 30 minutes in a lavatory and acted suspiciously earlier in the flight, began removing batteries from cellphones and had many batteries, cellphones and charging devices on a tray table. Xie, who is doing lithium-ion battery research for the military, says it's "scary" that a passenger with 50 or so electronic devices, including numerous lithium-ion batteries for cellphones and laptops, boarded an aircraft. Former FAA security director Billie Vincent says TSA screeners need to use common sense and call a supervisor when they see a passenger with many batteries and electronic devices. There have been several recalls of lithium-ion batteries used in laptops and other consumer products "that could spontaneously overheat and cause a fire," FAA spokeswoman Sasha Johnson says. Since April 1999 - when a shipment of lithium batteries caught fire after being taken out of a passenger plane's cargo hold at Los Angeles airport - the FAA has received reports of 40 fires involving lithium batteries and devices powered by them, Johnson says. No spare batteries FAA concerns about the fire risks of lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries are so great that passengers aren't allowed to put spare ones in checked bags. Battery manufacturers must retain results of design and safety tests, and their batteries must be more safely packaged and more safely stored on aircraft, the rule says. The NTSB said it couldn't determine what started the fire, but the fire most likely began in one of three cargo containers that contained lithium-ion batteries, laptop computers and other electronic devices. The trade association for lithium-ion battery manufacturers says that it's very concerned about safety, and that the batteries "present minuscule fire initiation risk." A restriction on storage of batteries in cargo planes may result in greater quantities being shipped on passenger planes, says George Kerchner, executive director of The Portable Rechargeable Battery Association.