Lipo fire on Boeing 737... qualified operator


scotth

scotth

Member
Pretty scary stuff. The last time I traveled I shipped all my lipos by ground and hand carried one pair. Went through screening multiple times, including spending 30 minutes with one TSA agent who inspected my octo in the baggage area. NONE of them had a clue about lipo regulations.
 
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kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
the lipo leads weren't taped, carried in a package with a bunch of hard cornered stuff. it was destined to fail
 

G

Griffo

New Member
Based on the scorched lipo label it looks like the passenger in question was from HIGH ALPHA - highalpha.com.au - Reports suggest this operator is under investigation by CASA and the Feds.

To become a certified RPAS operator in Australia you must first prove your knowledge of lipo safety and what can and cannot be carried onboard an aircraft. This person clearly knew they were carrying dangerous goods and tried to lie their way out of it. Just makes the industry look bad and I hope my loved ones are never on a plane with someone as reckless as this.
 





scotth

scotth

Member
kloner said:
1st post shows a suasnews link. it's not on the real news, at least not yet
Click to expand...

It circulated a while ago in the industry but wasn't much of a news story. Stick a hundred odd people in a swamp in Florida and you'll make the A section. I hope it wasn't the guy who's bio is on that site. If it was they should pull his ticket permanently.
 

N

nature

Member
I've done some basic searching on this forum and this was the only thread I could find so far in regards to airline travel with lipo batteries.

as scotth pointed out TSA didn't have a clue about the regulations. So I'm on a mission to empower us by helping spread the word of our rights under FAA regulations to carry-on (can't be checked) our LiPo's.

What I would like is to find many stories about TSA interactions with persons carrying LiPo's in their carry on.

Not exactly sure what area to start a new post under in this regard. I'll probably do the multi-rotor forum.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
tsa has guidlines already, you can download em online and it's just that. there is a limit of lithium content per cell,,,, other than that you can take all you want. 30-40 packs isn't uncommon
 

N

nature

Member
Thanks. But I understand my rights and I understand the regulations. I've reviewed them a number of times. My concern is for the TSA folks that do not (yet) understand.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
have you looked at the quality of folks that do that job lately? it's there job to train em

Mexico has been cracking down on sizes lately so if you head that way, get em insured cause you just might be leaving them there.
 

N

nature

Member
I travel a lot. Next destination is the Big Island of Hawaii. So yeah.... I've seen the quality of folks and am not impressed. That is interesting about Mexico and that is the sort of information or stories I am looking for.
 

seattle_helo

seattle_helo

Member
Wow- brutal. An idiot and he lied too. Traveling with the kind of power we do is serious business and really needs to be handled with great responsibility. I treat our batts like glass spheres, have terminal caps and always carry on. Never had any problems with TSA folks other than an occasional swab of the case or top batts inside. I think being global entry and pre check helps in that regard. Very true about Mexico. Last time I flew out of there they almost didn't let me take the batts. In a crazy irony, they insisted that they be checked. I spoke to the reps and security people for an hour and in the end they were checked. Luckily the gate agent was cool and hand delivered the case to the cargo guys for more gentle handling. Coordinating another job down there now and this time they will be pre and post shipped. Those Mexican security guys are off their rockers. They once also insisted on taking a M2.5 hex key out of my carry on. Not even a driver- an L key. But everything else was okay. :D Crazy.

nick
 


gtranquilla

gtranquilla

RadioActive
Maybe part of the issue is that baggage handlers can be quite rough with any luggage!
 
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R

Ronan

Member
Well well... certified... professional... yadiyada... just shows it doesn't mean ANYTHING if you are an IDIOT.

Of course this will be spinned into a way to control it even more, instead of 'oh this guy is a moron, keep him away from this stuff".
 

Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
nature said:
I'm on a mission to empower us by helping spread the word of our rights under FAA regulations to carry-on (can't be checked) our LiPo's.

What I would like is to find many stories about TSA interactions with persons carrying LiPo's in their carry on.
Click to expand...

Might want to do a bit of research about how the law has been written with regard to the TSA. Essentially we have zero rights since the TSA is liable for nothing and cannot be sued. As far as what we can carry on a commercial plane, read up on the power of IATA, the International Air Transport Association. That organization is the last word about what will be carried or not, and those rules/decisions can be made on the spot. Every pilot of every aircraft can make a spot decision to refuse any cargo should they deem it a safety hazard. There is not debate or arbitration. You learn this stuff as one of the hard facts of life in formal hazardous materials courses.

Pilots have died and planes have been lost due to fires caused by lithium batteries. Even our military will not ship them unless they are very carefully packaged and in a form they have determined to have little risk. They won't carry the type of lithium batteries we use at all. They even get squirmy at the thought of lithium watch type batteries, which is why one has a very hard time finding batteries for the better flash lights at third world base exchanges.

We have no right where TSA and carriage of goods is concerned, only permissions.
 

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