Airplane battery ban

Woo & Mo:

http://tech.yahoo.com/news//ap/20071228/ap_on_hi_te/lithium_batteries_travel

Baggage ban on batteries begins (AP)
Posted on Fri Dec 28, 2007 1:25PM EST

WASHINGTON - To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no
longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage
beginning Jan. 1, the Transportation Department said Friday.

Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are
installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop
computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carryon
baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger.

The ban affects shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries, such as
those made by Energizer Holdings Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.'s
Duracell brand.

"Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original
retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional
short-circuiting and fires," Krista Edwards, deputy administrator of the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said in a release.

The Federal Aviation Administration has found that fire-protection
systems in the cargo hold of passenger planes can't put out fires
sparked in lithium batteries.

The National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month said it
could not rule out lithium batteries as the source of a cargo plane fire
at Philadelphia International Airport last year.