Debate on lithium batteries reignites

— -- An airline pilots union is calling for a government ban on shipments of lithium batteries aboard aircraft after a series of fires in recent years.

The Air Line Pilots Association said Tuesday that federal regulators have been slow to act on the issue.

Pilots are calling for a ban on all lithium-based battery shipments on passenger and cargo jets. The ban would not apply to devices containing batteries brought aboard by passengers.

"The evidence of a clear and present danger is mounting," said Mark Rogers, an airline pilot and director of the union's dangerous goods programs.

"We need an immediate ban on these dangerous goods to protect airline passengers, crews and cargo," Rogers said.

Since March 2008, there have been six fires on board passenger and cargo jets linked to lithium-based batteries, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. None of the incidents caused deaths or serious injuries.

Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman, said the government does not see a need for an emergency ban on lithium battery shipments, because strict rules are being drafted. "We're monitoring the situation," Brown said. "We understand there have been incidents."

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has been attempting to draft new regulations for the past two years.

The union's call was prompted by several incidents, including a fire aboard a FedEx jet Aug. 14 that was discovered shortly after landing in Minneapolis.

The fire apparently began in a shipment of battery-powered smokeless cigarettes, said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The devices are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

The jet was not damaged, but the fire heavily damaged the contents of a cargo container, Hogan said.

Rogers said that the incident could have been far more serious if the fire had not begun shortly before landing. "If we hadn't been lucky, we would have had a catastrophic hull loss," he said. Federal law allows lithium-ion batteries to be carried as cargo on passenger jets.

The growing power of batteries, which the electronics industry increasingly relies on to run devices ranging from cellphones to cameras, has made them more dangerous in the rare instances when they fail, said John Drengenberg, consumer safety director at Underwriters Laboratories. The labs, known as UL, test electronic equipment for safety.

The risks of lithium-based batteries were first discovered in Los Angeles in 1999 when a shipment of 120,000 batteries caught fire after arriving on a flight from Japan. The non-rechargeable batteries, which are different from the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, burn fiercely and can't be extinguished with water or fire extinguishers.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) raised concerns about the incident. In 2004, the regulators at PHMSA banned the shipment of bulk non-rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger jets.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are not as flammable and can be put out with fire extinguishers, but the NTSB has issued a series of recommendations calling for tighter regulation and testing of the batteries.

The airline industry's Washington trade group, the Air Transport Association, is working with the government to research the issue "to ensure the absolute safety of our passengers and crews," spokesman David Castelveter said.