Will the airlines allow this to be brought?

[David Aaskov]

I,m sure there has been a discussion on this subject, but I couldn,t find it. Curious whether each airline has same or different rules such as battery charge/discharge, cover in fire protective bag, or separately ? Any thoughts ?

 

[AH-1G]

You should contact the airline/s you are going to fly with, also if international make sure you are able to bring it in that particular country.

 

[MM1992]

The batteries will have to be carry on, not checked, and the only rules for domestic flights governing the H batteries will be airline specific, as they're under 100 watt hours. Some will let you bring as many as you can, others will let you only bring 2. As far as protecting the batteries, tape over the terminals or terminal caps are generally recommended.

 

[David Aaskov]

Thanks, There's discussion that the craft can have a battery in it, however the H won,t fit in overhead, I am flying to St Thomas USVI, Miami, Philly,Portland on Americam & Delta. I am on all kinds of different size planes from 320,s, to 73,s, ER4, M88, & 738. I am also bringing a spare H with camera just in case I wreck or loose in Ocean. I will try and bring 3 Batts. I wonder if they would look in that hardcase?? If they do, I wonder what happens then? OK on the taped terminals. No need for them to be in fire proof sleeves? The airport isn,t far away, I wonder if I should bring stuff down and go to both terminals and see what they say.

 

[PatR]

DO NOT place a battery in the H and send it to checked baggage! Ever!!

The reason for prohibiting lipos in checked batteries is because they can fail and explode or catch fire. There is no fire suppression in checked baggage that can deal with the heat from a lipo fire. Once they go off they can bring the plane down, which is exactly what happened to a 747 departing Dubai some years ago. It was a freighter so only had a flight crew but they all died in the crash. A lipo fire in carry on baggage can be dealt with and suppressed. The flight crews have become pretty sensitive to lipo fires in flight as they have experienced several of them, one of which was in an Inspire in Business Class carry on. They X-ray all baggage and if your battery is seen your H will not make the flight. You could be called away from the boarding area to take care of the battery situation and end up missing your flight entirely.

Your desire to ship an extra battery by leaving it in the H could well end up causing the death of everyone aboard the aircraft, including you. Leaving a battery in an aircraft is one of the best ways I know of to induce a battery failure.

 

[MM1992]

American's policy is gonna limit you to 2 batteries in your carry on, IIRC. I don't believe Delta has that restriction.

 

[David Aaskov]

DO NOT place a battery in the H and send it to checked baggage! Ever!!

The reason for prohibiting lipos in checked batteries is because they can fail and explode or catch fire. There is no fire suppression in checked baggage that can deal with the heat from a lipo fire. Once they go off they can bring the plane down, which is exactly what happened to a 747 departing Dubai some years ago. It was a freighter so only had a flight crew but they all died in the crash. A lipo fire in carry on baggage can be dealt with and suppressed. The flight crews have become pretty sensitive to lipo fires in flight as they have experienced several of them, one of which was in an Inspire in Business Class carry on. They X-ray all baggage and if your battery is seen your H will not make the flight. You could be called away from the boarding area to take care of the battery situation and end up missing your flight entirely.

Your desire to ship an extra battery by leaving it in the H could well end up causing the death of everyone aboard the aircraft, including you. Leaving a battery in an aircraft is one of the best ways I know of to induce a battery failure.

Thank You Pat, Very well put, I understand fully now as to the ways. I also thought there was a full fire suppression system in checked baggage areas underneath, now I know.

 

[PatR]

I didn't intend to lean on ya real hard but the question of air transporting batteries comes up often, as does your proposed solution by leaving one in the aircraft. Thanks for understanding. What fire suppression they have just can't effectively deal with a lipo fire since they make their own oxygen when they combust.

 

[AH-1G]

UPS has been working on a new fire suppression cargo container after a Lipo fire caused their 747 to crash. These batteries makes me nervous even when I'm charging them. I wonder if they react differently at higher altitudes (pressurized in the cargo area)?

 

[David Aaskov]

I didn't intend to lean on ya real hard but the question of air transporting batteries comes up often, as does your proposed solution by leaving one in the aircraft. Thanks for understanding. What fire suppression they have just can't effectively deal with a lipo fire since they make their own oxygen when they combust.

This is another excellent point your mentioning Pat, can you go a little deeper into how they make there own oxygen, this is very interesting. I am sharing this picture as to how I charge my batteries for the indoor RC rally and truck races. It is mandatory that we use these bags when charging between races.

 

[PatR]

I was in error with Li-po's making their own oxygen. They do not and emit mostly carbon dioxide I confused this because Li-po's use metal oxides in the construction. They do experience a condition called "thermal runaway" where as one cell heats up and fails it cause one or more other cells to fail and explode. For more in depth info about lipo battery fires visit the attached link. The article is using Li-on's for description but the thermal process between li-on and li-po is essentially the same once the state is achieved.

Safety Concerns with Li-ion Batteries – Battery University