UN aviation agency bans lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger flights
\"As ICAO continues to carry out separate work on the new lithium battery packaging performance standards, this temporary ban will continue to be in effect and is currently expected to be in force by 2018, the president of the International Civil Aviation Organization, olueva Bennard arliu, told reporters. The 36-
The decision, which will take effect on April 1, is mandatory for all Member States, the State Department said.
The International Civil Aviation Organization reported on February 13 that the decision was announced before the results of the US and Japan investigations came out.
ICAO added that no additional restrictions will be imposed on other batteries or other means of transporting lithiumion batteries.
The agency\'s concerns stem from the fact that pilots and aircraft manufacturers have indicated that the current packaging standards are not fire-proof.
Reuters quoted a report from Boeing 2015 saying that fire safety measures currently targeted at passenger planes cannot \"suppress or extinguish fires caused by a large number of lithium batteries \".
The Federal Aviation Administration recently expressed the same concern, warning that if lithium-
According to AFP, ion batteries are transported through the cargo hold.
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Some airlines have taken the initiative to do so.
However, despite these concerns, there are also some who do not agree.
An unnamed informed expert told the agency: \"When the industry banned the transportation of lithium --
Metal batteries, we see examples of them being delivered as lithium.
This, he said, points to the fact that
Compliance will continue to be non-compliance.
Still, there have been two recent lithium-
Ion batteries have caused serious trouble to the aircraft-both of which were made on the Boeing 787 in January 2013.
One of them happened in Boston and the other in Japan-a fact that forced an emergency landing at Komatsu airport in western Japan.
As a result, the regulator closed all 787 in more than three months.