More Lithium Battery Woes

Recall the fire caused by lithium batteries that erupted on a Northwest Airlines [NWACQ] cargo pallet in 1999, which fortunately was not in the aircraft at the time and, if it were, it could have resulted in a fire burning right through the cargo hold (see ASW, July 26, 2004). Another shipment of lithium batteries, a prototype pack designed for an electric car, caught fire at the point where the pallet had been raised and pushed about halfway into a Federal Express MD-11 freighter bound for Paris on Aug. 7, 2004. The fire caused about $20,000 damage, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report of this incident. The Board concluded that "unapproved packaging" was largely responsible for the fire. The report contains a good summary of incidents involving fires of lithium battery shipments. The report, adopted Sept. 26, may be downloaded at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2005/HZB0501.pdf.

Five months after the fire in the FedEx shipment, the Research & Special Projects Administration (RSPA) banned bulk shipments by air of lithium batteries, but the prohibition applied only to passenger aircraft (see ASW, Dec. 20, 2004).