The threat to aviation safety posed by the potentially volatile lithium batteries that power a growing array of passenger- and crew-carried personal electronic devices (PEDs) is evolving, and so are industry mitigation efforts.
The U.S. government, which early in 2017 forced passenger-carried large PEDs into checked luggage on select U.S.-bound international flights for security reasons, now wants to see PEDs larger than a smartphone restricted to carry-on baggage for safety reasons.
For those same safety reasons, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revised its Dangerous Goods Regulations, effective Jan. 1, 2018, to restrict the number of PEDs and spare lithium batteries with which passengers and crewmembers are allowed to travel. In addition, amendments to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO’s) Annex 18, Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, have been proposed in an effort to mitigate the risk of undeclared dangerous goods ente…
