Lithium battery restriction kicks in

April Fool’s Day marked the
not so foolish implementation
of the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (Icao)
restrictions on the carriage of
lithium-ion batteries in bulk on
passenger aircraft.
These bulk shipments
are now limited to freighter
aircraft only – and with a
maximum state of charge of
30%.
In SA the majority of
lithium battery shipments are
contained in or shipped with
equipment, and these are not
affected by the April 1 change
in shipping rules, according
to aviation security specialist,
David Alexander, GM of Avsec.
In almost every case, he
told FTW, an incident is
caused by misdeclared/hidden
consignments, by bad handling
or by bad (counterfeit)
batteries.
“And in SA, like the rest of
the world, we struggle with
misdeclared, undeclared and
hidden dangerous goods,” he
said. “People do not realise that
their irresponsible behaviour
could bring an aircraft down.
When lithium-ion
batteries are
correctly declared
the industry
knows exactly
how to safely
prepare them
for carriage.
But this costs
money and some
people take a
chance, perhaps
without realising
the significance
and magnitude
of the risk. This is
an education and discipline
problem. People must learn to
follow the rules. They are in
place for our protection.”
Passenger education must
also be a priority, according
to Alexander. “If you refer
to the stats,” he said, “our
average passenger is woefully
unaware of how to carry
devices and spare batteries for
the multitude of devices we all
carry.”
This is highlighted in
incidents in the US, one of the
only countries that maintains
and publishes statistics on
lithium battery incidents.
These recorded 24 incidents
involving lithium-ion batteries
reported on passenger aircraft,
either in carry-on or hold
baggage, and involving laptops,
e-cigarettes, cell phones,
battery packs, drones and
power drills.
At the same time, 16
incidents happened on cargo
aircraft with bulk shipments of
batteries. The most significant
fact here was that all
of them
involved either misdeclared,
undeclared or badly packed
batteries – or a combination of
all three!
Meanwhile, quite a
significant number of incidents
were exacerbated by poor
handling.
Alexander also highlighted
another area of major
threat. “That,” he said, “is
the appearance of more and
more counterfeit lithium ion
batteries on the market. Some
of these are so good as to be
almost indistinguishable from
the real thing.”
So how can you know?
“One way,” he said, “is
that every single genuine
lithium ion battery meets the
requirements of each test of
the UN Manual of Tests and
Criteria, Part III, subsection
38.3. This should be indicated
on the packaging. However,
it’s very difficult to check when
bulk batteries are shipped.”
Also included in the threat
are substandard batteries that
simply spontaneously ignite – a
problem that was attributed to
batteries in ‘hover boards’ last
year, and led to airlines
refusing to carry them.
The answer to this,
according to Alexander,
is that buyers should stick
to legitimate suppliers
with a proven record
of supplying compliant
product. “This is especially
important with the 30%
state of charge coming into
effect,” he added. “You must
deal with responsible people
who follow the rules and apply
stringent quality standards.”