E-sigaretter farlig last?

E-Cigarettes Under Scrutiny for Listing as Flight Hazard

By MATTHEW L. WALD

The Massachusetts fire marshal is focused on an e-cigarette as the possible cause of smoldering in a bag that had to be removed from a jet on Saturday night at Boston's Logan International Airport. Airport officials are asking the Transportation Department to consider classifying e-cigarettes as hazardous materials.

Baggage handlers pulled the bag off the jet, a JetBlue flight bound for Buffalo, and put it out with a hand-held extinguisher. It was not clear if the combustion had reached the stage of fire.

The episode raises the question of whether e-cigarettes that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries should be added to the list of banned items, which already includes matches, flares and most batteries that are "spillable."

Ed Freni, director of aviation at the Massachusetts Port Authority, said it was clear that lithium-ion batteries posed a hazard.

"The more you see these type of items sold out there, the more our industry has to take a closer look at them, as we've done with other hazardous materials," he said.