News Content
Congressional row over lithium battery ban on passenger jets
A JURISDICTIONAL row in the US House Transportation Committee is threatening to derail efforts to regulate the potentially lethal bulk shipment of lithium-ion batteries on passenger aircraft.
At the centre of the dispute is Republican committee chairman Bill Shuster, who is pushing to defer authority to the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), while Democrat Peter DeFazio is calling for the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration funding bill that is to be considered later this month, to include a ban, reported Fortune.com.
Mr DeFazio claims it's "only a matter of time" until there is a major accident involving batteries in the air.
The FAA has recorded 140 incidents involving batteries over the last 25 years, including the 2010 crash of a UPS cargo aircraft, which killed both crew members after a fire broke out in the hold.
Several passenger airlines have banned shipments of lithium-ion batteries as air cargo, but Mr DeFazio believes a uniform ban is necessary to ensure passenger safety, a move supported by airline pilots.
In a study of the risks, the FAA determined that the ignition of as few as eight lithium-ion batteries could puncture a plane's cargo hold, and the resulting fire could be too intense to be controlled by planes' fire-extinguishing systems.
At the centre of the dispute is Republican committee chairman Bill Shuster, who is pushing to defer authority to the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), while Democrat Peter DeFazio is calling for the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration funding bill that is to be considered later this month, to include a ban, reported Fortune.com.
Mr DeFazio claims it's "only a matter of time" until there is a major accident involving batteries in the air.
The FAA has recorded 140 incidents involving batteries over the last 25 years, including the 2010 crash of a UPS cargo aircraft, which killed both crew members after a fire broke out in the hold.
Several passenger airlines have banned shipments of lithium-ion batteries as air cargo, but Mr DeFazio believes a uniform ban is necessary to ensure passenger safety, a move supported by airline pilots.
In a study of the risks, the FAA determined that the ignition of as few as eight lithium-ion batteries could puncture a plane's cargo hold, and the resulting fire could be too intense to be controlled by planes' fire-extinguishing systems.
Latest News
- For the first time, tianjin Port realized the whole process of dock operati...
- From January to August, piracy incidents in Asia increased by 38%!The situa...
- Quasi-conference TSA closes as role redundant in mega merger world
- Singapore says TPP, born again as CPTPP, is now headed for adoption
- Antwerp posts 5th record year with boxes up 4.3pc to 10 million TEU
- Savannah lifts record 4 million TEU in '17 as it deepens port
