Pilots issue warning to festive travellers over lithium battery fire risk
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Pilots unions are urging festive travellers to make sure they wrap their presents properly to prevent a fire risk.
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) is advising passengers to make sure any gifts containing lithium batteries are carried in hand luggage rather than checked in.
They say poorly packed parcels of cameras, laptops, phones and toys containing lithium batteries could pose a fire risk because poorly manufactured batteries, or those that are damaged or inappropriately packaged, can short circuit or fail, releasing harmful gasses or causing high intensity fires that can spread quickly.
It said lithium batteries have been cited in the accident reports of at least two fatal accidents, including the UPS747 freighter in 2010 and the Asiana 747 in 2011.
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BALPA is also calling for the introduction of a system where passengers’ hand baggage can be identified as containing lithium batteries, whether that means marking boarding cards, or attaching ‘cabin baggage only’ labels.
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"We understand that at Christmas passengers may be carrying presents for their loved ones. We want to ensure those gifts are delivered safely. That means if they contain items such as phones, toys or computers, that have lithium batteries, then passengers need to be cautious about how they transport them," said BALPA flight safety specialist Stephen Landells.
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“The safest way to carry them is in your hand luggage, where any potential fault will be detected by the crew quickly and dealt with before a serious problem occurs.
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"Pilots don’t want to be Grinches, but we do want to help educate passengers, so they understand that a little thought about how they pack their bag can make a big difference to flight safety."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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