FAA to air travelers- we love your electronic devices

The FAA has conducted tests and concluded that in spite of concerns raised earlier this week lithium-ion batteries pose no threat to airplanes.  The concern was raised after reports that some Dell and Apple laptops had burst into flames due to faulty lithium-ion batteries.  The massive Dell battery recall hasn’t helped ease anyone’s mind, either. FAA program Manager Dick Hill had this to say:

"They're no more hazardous than any other battery-powered piece of equipment," Hill told eWEEK in an exclusive interview. Hill said that while such batteries can catch on fire, "If you're carrying it into the passenger cabin, the flight attendants should be capable of using an extinguisher and controlling it easily."

Apparently there has been some confusion between lithium-ion batteries used in laptops and other electronic devices and lithium batteries that are typically used in cameras.  On-board fire suppression systems can extinguish burning lithium-ion batteries but not lithium ones.  I guess we’ll have a digital camera ban, now.

(via PC Mag)

-jk