United Airlines has become the second major airline to ban bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries on its airplanes citing safety concerns.
The airline announced Monday that it would no longer accept bulk shipments of the rechargeable batteries on passenger flights. The batteries have been shown to be potentially hazardous, particularly when shipped in bulk. However, there have been no incidents of such batteries causing a fire in a cargo hold of an airplane carrying passengers, and bulk shipments are allowed under U.S. and international standards.
The Associated Press reports that Delta Airlines stopped accepting bulk shipments of the batteries on February 1. American has also limited its acceptance of the cargo, though that airline will still take small packages of the batteries "overpacked" into a single container.
Fires associated with lithium-ion batteries are being investigated in the U.S. and overseas in incidents that destroyed two Boeing 747 freighters and resulted in the fatal injury of the pilots on board those airplanes. A third 747 cargo plane was also destroyed by a fire after landing in Philadelphia, but the pilots managed to escape the aircraft.
The ban on bulk shipments of the batteries will not affect bulk shipment of devices that use them for power, such as laptops and power tools. The airlines have all said that the additional packaging helps prevent the kind of chain reaction that can cause the batteries to burn when they are packed together.
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