The UN aviation agency has prohibited shipments of lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft.
Olumuyiwa Aliu, President, International Civil Aviation Organization’s 36-state governing council, said on Tuesday in New York that the prohibition would be in effect as of April 1.
He said pilots and aircraft manufacturers are concerned that existing standards are not strong enough to contain lithium battery fires.
“Lithium metal batteries, which are used in watches, have already been banned on passenger planes globally.
“Lithium metal batteries, used in watches, are not rechargeable while lithium-ion batteries, used in cell phones and laptops, can be recharged,’’he said.
Aliu said sanction would be maintained until a new fire-resistant packaging standard is designed to transport the batteries.
He, however, said not withstanding Lithium-ion batteries can still be transported on cargo planes.
ICAO president maintained that the ban would be mandatory for ICAO member states.
A 2015 working paper by an organization representing plane makers like Boeing Company, found current firefighting systems on airliners could not “suppress or extinguish a fire involving significant quantities of lithium batteries.”
Experts familiar with ICAO’s thinking questioned whether a ban on lithium-ion batteries would really make passenger planes safer.
The experts said when the industry banned the shipment of lithium-metal batteries, we saw instances of them being passed off as lithium ion batteries.
They observed that those people who are not complying now won’t comply with a prohibition.
