Developing Story Worth Watching

[PatR]

The cause has yet to be determined. Should it turn out to have been caused by batteries the repercussions for battery transport will be severe.

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Large amounts of smoke were seen billowing out of an Air China plane.

www.foxnews.com

 

[FlushVision]

The cause has yet to be determined. Should it turn out to have been caused by batteries the repercussions for battery transport will be severe.

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Large amounts of smoke were seen billowing out of an Air China plane.

www.foxnews.com

Coulda been lots of things causing the fire but I agree that batteries may have been one cause. yet to be determined, though. Worrying particularly when you think that most of our batteries have China as a source.

I recall one air accident some years ago where a fire on board was determined to be because of batteries. It was the subject of a documentary in a series on air crash investigation.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Definitely could be batteries but looking at the videos, the smoke is not pouring out of the open cargo bays but rather in the very top of the plane as if the heat source were above the cabin, possibly in the overhead bins or perhaps even an O2 generator misfire, avionics wiring or other but I would put batteries at the top of the 'guess' list.

 

[Tiffin 2018]

The cause has yet to be determined. Should it turn out to have been caused by batteries the repercussions for battery transport will be severe.

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Air China plane catches fire, sustains extensive damage as passengers prepare to board

Large amounts of smoke were seen billowing out of an Air China plane.

www.foxnews.com

The repercussions are already severe for transporting batteries or anything that contains lithium. These are hazmat and are restricted to cargo aircraft only.

 

[FlushVision]

Definitely could be batteries but looking at the videos, the smoke is not pouring out of the open cargo bays but rather in the very top of the plane as if the heat source were above the cabin, possibly in the overhead bins or perhaps even an O2 generator misfire, avionics wiring or other but I would put batteries at the top of the 'guess' list.

When I watched the video I though that too, but the text says the fire was in the forward cargo hold?

 

[Mrgs1]

Aren't a lot of batteries shipped ground wise now? I ordered some lithium batteries and took over 2 months to arrive.

 

[FlushVision]

Aren't a lot of batteries shipped ground wise now? I ordered some lithium batteries and took over 2 months to arrive.

Yes, I think so...by sea at any rate. I ordered a Giffi from China on the 20th of August and I've been advised the expected delivery date to be 17th September so that tells me that it is on a slow boat from China.

 

[twoheadlines]

Speculation by all of us I think.
On the face of it, I wouldn't put that conflagration down to being caused by a battery being placed in an overhead locker. The heat damage being confined to a reasonably localised area on the upper fuselage of the aircraft, without the presence of flame, I suggest may well be indicative of another ignition source. Between an overhead locker and the outer fuselage there is a lot of space where smoke, at the very least, would move. The photographs presented do not seem to suggest an ignition source within passenger compartment areas.
Until more is known, best we be aware of the potential risks particularly associated with Lipo batteries, but not get to excited around something of this type being the cause - yet!

 

[PatR]

It’s why I said this was an event to watch. Passengers had not started boarding so overheads weren’t yet in use. Baggage and freight start loading prior to passengers. Chinese businesses commonly cheat anywhere they can to increase profitability, and lithium battery shipments is an area they have a history of circumventing regulations.

We don’t yet know what caused this and considering the country involved we may never know as they tightly control their news media. But if it was a lithium battery fire with an airline in the country where such batteries are manufactured the repercussions will be felt around the world.

 

[twoheadlines]

Don't disagree with your perspective. Interestingly though, I have travelled into and out of China around twice a year since 2014. Initially I didn't seem to have any issues going into China with the li-on camera batteries.
Trying to leave the country with li-on or Li-po batteries in my checked luggage has always been an issue. Got caught with a brand new monitor still in its OEM wrapping that I unwittingly put into my checked luggage. Never gave it a thought about the li-on battery being included, but my luggage was pulled out and I could only take it as a carry on item.
I'm still waiting on a package of drone accessories to arrive from China that includes extra batteries for my H520. I am glad to say there has been no attempt to conceal the presence of the batteries in this package, even though shipping charges are quite a bit higher as a result of making sure they have been declared.

 

[PatR]

The shipping fraud issues have for the most part occurred during “trans shipments” where batteries arrived in Indo Pacific countries and transferred to commercial aircraft.

 

[RatBob]

I just got my order of 3 new Ultraxx, figured I'd stock up in prep for a trade war, think I'll order a coup[e more to hedge