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Packing banned electronics in airline cargo sparks safety concerns
WASHINGTON - Airlines and safety experts continue to raise alarms about shoving more laptops into checked luggage, even as the Trump administration considers expanding a ban on electronics in the cabins of some flights from the Middle East and Africa.

As the number of electronics has multiplied, the Flight Safety Foundation, an international research non-profit, urged the industry to study the threat from storing more electronics in cargo that could overheat if unintentionally left turned on.

"The increased risk from possibly concentrating hundreds of these devices must be considered, along with the risk from stowing them next to other dangerous goods," the foundation said.

Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, which represents 265 airlines worldwide, said the electronics ban is a measure "that cannot stand up to the scrutiny of public confidence in the long term."

"It's intolerable that governments continue to add to the uncertainties facing the air transport industry," he said.

Department of Homeland Security officials announced the ban March 21, with airlines given 96 hours to comply. The ban prohibited electronics larger than cell phones in the cabins of non-stop flights of nine airlines from 10 airports in eight countries.

FBI testing uncovered vulnerabilities in airport screening that could miss explosives planted in laptops. The risks were discovered in the recovery of fragments of undisclosed materials that highlighted new bomb-making techniques.

David Lapan, a department spokesman, said Tuesday the ban could be expanded to more airports and cover more electronics. Those changes aren't imminent, he added.

The Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators have long allowed electronics in checked luggage. But spare lithium-ion batteries are prohibited in checked baggage and must be packed individually in carry-on bags because of the risk of jostling against metal or each other and short-circuiting.

The concern is that the batteries could spark unseen fires in cargo in rare circumstances, rather than be noticed in the passenger cabin. Fire extinguishers aboard planes use halon, which doesn't work on what are called thermal runaways from batteries that ooze a hot, toxic gel.

"When the stuff discharges, it's similar to napalm," Capt. John Cox, a former airline pilot who is now a safety expert at Safety Operating Systems, told USA TODAY.

Short-circuited batteries get very hot and smoky, making them difficult to handle. Dousing with too much water could spread the overheated material.

"When that stuff discharges, it comes out as a gel and it comes out as molten copper, both of which are over 1,000 degrees and both of which are sticky," Cox said. "If it hits your skin, it's a third-degree burn."

The FAA warns crew members not to move overheated batteries in burn-resistant bags because moving the device "may be extremely hazardous," according to a 2011 advisory.

But after 33 battery fires on airlines last year, Cox said FAA needs to update its guidance and airlines need to train their crews more on how to deal with the batteries.

"The idea is that you want to have it in the cabin so that the cabin staff - if you do get a smoke or fire event - they can deal with it," Cox said.

EASA Warns of Dangers of Electronic Devices in Cargo Holds

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Wednesday issued a Safety Information Bulletin highlighting experts’ preference that personal electronic devices (PEDs) such as laptop computers remain in carry-on baggage and with the person carrying the device. The industry has long held that lithium batteries in PEDs pose a fire danger, and that keeping such devices in the passenger cabin allows crewmembers to “act expeditiously” in case an emergency arises. The EASA bulletin comes less than two weeks after the U.S. and UK bans on large electronic devices in the passenger cabins of flights from several Middle Eastern and African countries took effect.