FAA Institutes New Bans on Laptop and Gadget Batteries on Planes

Laserbolt, the bullshit will never end...this is just the beginning.

It's George Orwell's book '1984' coming to life!

If you've never read it, do!

Go to the safetravel link and read the guidelines before you all explode! It's fine to carry your laptop on along with several spare batteries. It's NOT legal to pack spares in your CHECKED luggage. Guess they figure if they short they'll go undetected in checked luggage. And it's not 25 grams total weight, it's 25 grams litium equivalent which is about as much as is in 300 watt hours of battery power (or 2 of the big flat universal batteries)

7 grams of lithium in my pacemaker.

I fly and am a pilot. I really would like you to know that my fellow cabin members are also safe. I would like to know all the passengers are safe. I think any "inconvenience" outweighs the gadget fix for a few hours if we all have increased safety and remove the toeholds that the sickos wish to exploit no?

Putting a battery in the baggage compartment is not going to keep it from exloding. If a battery explodes in
the baggage compartment lights a fire, then lights the other 100 laptop batteries on fire and mixes with the
hair gel and tooth paste, who is going to put out the fire? Nobody tends the baggage compartment. Oh,
maybe the pacific ocean that the plane just crashed into. If I’m not mistaken I think some aircraft batteries
are lithium and they are not exploding.. And having a “runaway battery” what a geek. We have been carring
batteries and other potentially dangerous stuff on aircraft for a long time and nothing has happened. (One
time I was flying to California and I turned my cell phone on in flight just to see if the plane would crash,
and can you believe it! Nothing frickin happened, so I do it all the time.) putting different doors on the
cockpit will not keep terrorists out, they will just become pilots and take-off instead of take over the flight.
We need new seceurity ideas, such as better x-ray machine operators, 50% of them are not paying attention
because they are bored. I say play a couple pranks on each one of them everyday just to keep them on their
toes. Lets come up with better secerity ideas for the FAA because they have no ideas.

Why not fire all of the current screeners and hire the Israel Government to do our screening. They seem to use their intelligence and profile as well as interview.

Mr. K

Has anyone tallied the number of laptop fires aboard aircraft? I've certainly never heard of one but then, it wouldn't be something that the airline would want publicized. Yet the way media hungers for anything related to possible air accidents or terror, shouldn't they have ferreted out even the least mini-meltdown? Tempest in a teapot?

I have a friend who flies a private jet for a pretty well known businessman. He says there is no reason why cellphones cannot be used in flight, his boss and passengers use theirs all the time... along with their laptops. Sorry, but all this 'homeland security' crap sounds an awful lot like Nazi Germany... who ever called this country the 'homeland' before? I certainly never did and never heard anyone else call it that either. It's all about control and keeping us scared. I read an interesting article recently called "U.S. in the Time of Empire" which IMHO says it all...

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20071118_U_S__IN_THE_TIME_OF_EMPIRE_.html

Being that we don't have rampant suicide bombers blowing themselves up at every crowded venue to the extent we hear of in the mid east, I have to say the regulations are working so far.

Being that we don't have rampant suicide bombers blowing themselves up at every crowded venue to the extent we hear of in the mid east, I have to say the regulations are working so far.

I do underwater photography. That means when I travel I have two batteries for my strobes, 2 back up bateries for my strobes (needed), 3 batteries for my camera, 1 rechargeable battery for my underwater light, 2 batteries for my laptop,1 battery for my back up storage drive for my photos in case the laptop takes a dump, my cellphone has a battery as does my i-pod. The rules also state that if I leave my battery in my device and it does not have to go into my carry on. Idiots! If I leave a battery in my lights or strobes and it somehow gets turned on it can definitely cause a fire. Up until now they have wanted my batteries out for just this reason. My reason for travel is to dive and do photography. What am I supposed to do? Cancel my vacations? It's more pretending to do something so they all feel good and I say they are doing more harm by telling me to keep my batteries in my devices.

I am not afraid of terrorists. They never did anything to anyone I ever met. If they are so worried, Why not ban airplanes? This is America and we drive! If you need planes move out of Chevy country. I will stand behind my 502 big block van and my 44 magnum. If you have to fly, drive to Canada or Mexico, We are afraid of big scary airplanes!

Couldn't have said it better myself, Laserbolt. The FAA has become just another over-powered tool of the fear mongering Bush administration. To hell with the dangers of exploding batteries, to hell with the dangers of liquid explosives, to hell with the dangers of shoe bombs. I am not affraid and I am tired of people trying to scare me! Let us fly fear free!

so what diffrence does it make if the battery explodes in the cabin of the airplane or the cargo area? it still happens to be ON the plane..

All this snivelling makes me want to barf. These lithium-ion batteries are so unstable that they generate tremendous heat when merely exposed to moisture, and actually explode when exposed to water. Do you REALLY want them on the airplane with you? (Remember - there's no parachute for YOU.) You don't like taking off your shoes? Tell it to the a**hole that tried to light his shoe-bomb on an airplane. You don't like having to leave your drinks outside the concourse? Tell it to the a**hole that taught his friends how to make bombs using liquid explosives. Better yet, tell all your crybaby crap to OSAMA if you ever meet him - they're HIS friends, & they all want you & yours DEAD. Whether you appreciate the TSA or not, they've actually been quite successful at keeping us all safe. Their job is hard enough without YOU making things more difficult. So, you can either get over yourselves, put your toys away & get with the program, or be part of the problem. The choice is yours...

Robert, you very spot-on! The kids needs to put their toys away, and relearn to be people (or as someone suggested, read a book). Oh, and while you're at it, brush-up on those critical reading skills. PEOPLE! This isn't a TSA security issue - It's a FAA safety mandate. Have you all forgotten about that airliner that crashed into the Everglades, all because something placed into the cargo hold started burning???
But as far as security goes, I saw better in Turkey...20 years ago. And that's because they placed group safety above personal rights. Think about it.

I take about 100 business flights a year. I use a laptop probably 75% of the time, not because I want to, but because if I don't I'll be working until midnight. I'd rather sleep or read a book, believe me...but while you are enjoying the movie, I'm at work. I'm sorry if my tapping away bothers those of you who want a "peaceful" flight... but I'm not doing it to annoy you recreational travelers. I'm doing it so I can have a life after I get off the plane.

The question is will security know the difference between lithium batteries vs NiCad or Nimh? The link in the above article, safetravel.dot.gov, shows a battery for professional audio/visual equipment. The picture is of a Anton Bauer NiCad based battery. Compare with AB's site (http://www.antonbauer.com/digi_propac_trimpac.htm).If they can't get the picture right, what's the chance you're going to have arguing the fact that the batteries you may be carrying is not Lithium?

If batteries are going to be restricted then the FAA needs to require airlines provide power outlets to all passengers.

I just put a lithium-ion battery in water. It exploded and now the entire state of Colorado is destroyed. B.S. It didnt even get warm. So I put it in hot water, Nothing happened. Next time I'm on board of an airline I'm going to light a fart on fire with the one match I sneak on board. That explosion will be larger than putting a battery in water. PS. Don't drop your phone in the toilet, you will blow up your bathroom. NOT

It's not so much that people need to keep their laptops on them for their fix, although some do, but I would never check in any devices just for the fact that they would never survive at the temperature in the cargo area. Also, with the airlines cutting costs with no longer having in-flight meals, no more pillows, and their 3 cent pack of pretzels I would expect that the entertainment would be next to go if it already hasn't, so why can't I bring my own. A cell, an iPod, and a laptop is surely not going to put the average person over this new limit.