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By Scott Doggett, Contributor


An airline pilots union is calling for a government ban on shipments of lithium batteries aboard passenger and all-cargo planes after a series of fires in recent years involving aircraft.


This development might have an adverse affect on electric vehicles and most hybrid vehicles because lithium batteries are widely regarded as the best type to propel the vehicles.


At the very least, reports of a link between lithium batteries and fires aboard aircraft won't help public perception that such batteries are safe.



In statement released Tuesday, the Air Line Pilots Association said that federal regulators have been slow to act on the issue and that "the evidence of a clear and present danger is mounting."


The ban would not apply to devices containing batteries brought aboard by passengers, but as you can read in the adjacent boxed text, there has been at least one instance of a passenger reporting that his laptop computer was emitting smoke.


Since March of last year, six fires have been reported on board passenger and cargo jets linked to lithium-based batteries, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. None of the incidents resulted in deaths or serious injuries.


In a recent letter sent to Cynthia Douglass, acting deputy administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Captain John Prater, head of the pilots' union, pointed to three recent incidents as proof positive of the urgent need to prohibit lithium-battery shipments.


During just the past two months, fire, smoke, or evidence of fire associated with battery shipments has occurred aboard three separate U.S. airliners, he wrote in the letter.


The incidents, which took place in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Honolulu, Hawaii, were similar to a 2006 battery fire aboard a DC-8 in Philadelphia, he wrote.
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Tags: Batteries, Hybrid, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla, Toyota, Air Line Pilots Association, ALPA, FAA, Hybrid, Hybrids, Lithium Batteries, Lithium-ion, Plug in, Plug-in Electric Vehicles, Tesla, Toyota

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Air Line Pilots Association Seeks Ban on Lithium-ion Battery Shipments on Jetliners was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.