Questions And Answers On Proposed Ban On Laptops In Luggage

First the U.S. government temporarily banned laptops in the cabins of some airplanes. Now it is looking to ban them on from checked luggage on international flights, citing the risk of potentially catastrophic fires.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently recommended that the U.N. agency that sets global aviation standards prohibit passengers from putting laptops and other large personal electronic devices in their checked bags.

The FAA says in a filing with the International Civil Aviation Organization that the lithium-ion batteries in laptops can overheat and create fires. Some questions and answers about the shifting U.S. policy.

WHY IS THE FAA WORRIED ABOUT THIS DANGER NOW?

The FAA has long been concerned about the potential hazardous of lithium batteries. The agency’s tests of the risks of shipping large quantities of batteries as cargo on airliners showed that when a single battery overheats, it can cause other nearby batteries to overheat as well. That can result in intense fires and the release of explosive gases.

Based on those test results, the FAA was able to convince ICAO two years ago to ban cargo shipments of lithium batteries on passenger planes and to require that batteries shipped on cargo planes be charged no more than 30 percent. The risk of overheating is lower if the battery isn’t fully charged.