officials concerned over flammability of batteries in plane cargo

WASHINGTON -Dramatic U. S.
The government\'s test results raise new concerns that a large shipment of rechargeable lithium batteries transported as cargo on passenger planes is vulnerable to fire or explosions that could destroy passenger planes.
Yet U. S.
International officials are making slow progress in taking security restrictions that may affect the battery-dependent powerful industry and airlines that make profits from transporting batteries.
Batteries are used for products such as mobile phones, laptops, hybrid cars.
According to safety standards set by the United States, the shipment of rechargeable batteries on passenger planes should be limited to no more than a few in a boxN.
The International Civil Aviation Organization of the United States,S.
And other countries.
But a loophole allows shippers to pack many small boxes into a shipment and bypass the rules.
Thousands of batteries may be packed into pallets or containers and loaded into a wide cargo hold
Plane.
Hottest News Google cloud service disruption missing connadik state mom Virginia Beach shooting protesters interrupted Harris in a April FAA test, a container with 5,000 lithium
Ion batteries and cartridge heaters were added to simulate uncontrolled overheating of a single battery.
The heat of the cartridge triggered overheating of the nearby battery and spread in the chain reaction.
The temperature reached 1100 degrees Fahrenheit. }
Once about 300 batteries were involved, a fierce explosion opened the container door and let the boxes fly, surprising FAA and industry observers.
The container caught fire in a few seconds.
The explosion comes from the accumulation of flammable gases.
Despite the addition of fire extinguishing agents, the second Test in September produced similar results.
The safety department knew about lithium.
If the ion batteries are defective, damaged, overcharged, incorrectly packaged or exposed to extreme heat, they can cause a violent fire.
But they are allowed to transport on the passenger plane because it is believed that the halon gas fire extinguishing system in the cargo compartment of the passenger plane can put out any fire.
The container test raised a new concern: the explosion could increase the pressure on the hold, activate the pressure reducing valve, and allow halon gas and smoke to enter the cabin and cockpit.
This will dilute the fire in the cargo hold and keep it out of control.
The cargo problem is different from the problem that caused a fire in lithium two years ago.
Ion batteries installed as part of the Boeing 787 operating system.
The National Transportation Safety Commission said on Monday that in this case, Boeing did not expect a short battery circuit of one of the eight batteries to spread to other batteries and cause a fire. The U. N.
S. Civil Aviation Administration is considering a series of proposals to strengthen packaging, labeling and handling standards for lithium
Ion battery transport and the airline pilot union are working to limit the number of batteries that can be transported.
No consensus was reached at a meeting held in Brazil in October, and any changes are expected to take effect by 2017.
By contrast, the United StatesN.
Earlier this year, the agency decided to ban the transportation of non-lithium metal batteries on passenger aircraft.
Rechargeable cousin of lithium
Ion batteries commonly used for toys, watches and medical devices.
The ban will take effect on January.
About 10% of 2.
The 5 billion lithium metal batteries made each year are flown by air.
Lithium-
Ion batteries are much more frequently flown by air, but while people are more aware of their dangers, there is no similar effort to ban them from shipping on passenger planes. About 4.
8 billion lithium
Ion batteries were manufactured in 2013 and production is expected to reach 8 billion per year by 2025.
The battery contains two or more batteries.
Tests by the FAA show that lithium is transported
According to a slide presentation by Paul Rohrbach, a system engineer at aircraft manufacturer Airbus, ion batteries have \"similar fire risks\" to lithium metal batteries \".
A passenger plane may be able to withstand a fire caused by a small amount of lithium.
He said that although it is an ion battery, the plane will be destroyed if many batteries catch fire.
Airbus spokesman Mary Anne greitzen said Rohrbach\'s speech was an \"industry position\" that reflected the views of other aircraft manufacturers and Airbus.
Lithium batteries dominate the global battery industry because they are low-cost, lightweight and can hold more energy than other types of batteries. U. S.
The hands of regulators are tied to Bill 2012 enacted by Congress in response to industry lobbying.
It banned the government from issuing stricter regulations than the United States. N.
Unless the international investigation agency is able to prove that the battery ignited a fire that destroyed the aircraft, that is the agency\'s standard.
This is difficult because, in the three cases to date, the battery was suspected to have caused a fire that destroyed the aircraft, and the damage to the aircraft was too serious to determine the source of the fire.
\"I don\'t think we should wait for the accident to happen until we take action,\" said Tom Hault, a former air crash investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board.
The industry says business will suffer if shipping standards vary across countries. Instead, PRBA -
Rechargeable Battery Association urges strengthening
Strengthen the implementation of existing standards.
An inspection activity by the Canadian authorities found that 78% of the companies that transported lithium batteries by Air did not properly declare their goods, and that \"a staggering number of companies\" carried damaged, defective and wasted batteries, according to a slide presentation by an inspector.
This battery is much more likely to catch fire.