By Stevie Smith Jan 2, 2008, 14:12 GMT
With in-flight airline security still high following the 911 disaster, it perhaps comes as little surprise to learn that the New Year is ushering in yet more US flight restrictions related to exactly what passengers can and cannot take with them in their checked luggage allocation.
Airline passengers face new rule banning the carrying of disposable lithium batteries inside check-in bags. Credit: Energizer.
Specifically, the U.S. Transportation Department has this week (January 01) initiated a new ruling designed to prevent fires by banning airline passengers from including disposable lithium battery cells in the luggage carried within an airliner’s baggage hold.
"Safety testing conducted by the FAA found that current aircraft cargo fire suppression systems would not be capable of suppressing a fire if a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries were ignited in flight," explained the department in its announcement.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has said that passengers wanting to carry up to two spare lithium batteries (to a maximum of 25 grams of lithium content) on a flight must now take them packed in separate plastic bags within their carry-on cabin luggage.
"Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional short-circuiting and fires," advised Krista Edwards, the PHMSA’s deputy administrator, in an official statement.
The new rule does not affect lithium cells equipped inside portable devices such as notebook computers, cell phone handsets, PDAs, and digital cameras, which can still be checked-in by passengers as normal, reports the International Business Times.
Other stipulations related to the new rule outline that passengers can only carry lithium cells containing no more than eight grams of lithium, which should include virtually all types of existing notebook batteries.
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