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Well if you think about it, it makes sense. Something could be potentially improvised by a passenger. But to make a device, you would open yourself to detection
by devoply 9y ago
Well if you think about it, it makes sense. Something could be potentially improvised by a passenger. But to make a device, you would open yourself to detection via X-Rays. However, I think that the rest of the world should return the favor and ban all laptops from US incoming flights. Just as a quid pro quo.
Soon though hopefully solid state cells will come into play and this will no longer be a problem. China for instance has banned shipping all lithium ion batteries via China Post and searches actively for them... as it's a risk. You have to ship them specially declared which is pretty expensive.
- jedberg 9y ago> I think that the rest of the world should return the favor and ban all laptops from US incoming flights. I mean, that will basically be the case anyway. If I leave the US, I'm not taking a laptop since I can't bring it back.
- desdiv 9y ago>China for instance has banned shipping all lithium ion batteries via China Post Fedex and UPS both treat lithium ion batteries as dangerous goods, with the exception of batteries shipped "with equipment" i.e. shipping a laptop with its battery, without the battery being plugged in. How does that make sense? If item A is dangerous, how does putting item B in the same shipment suddenly make item A not dangerous? Is the non-powered-on laptop capable of putting out fires or something? The Chinese rule is extremely annoying, but I'm forced to admit that at least it makes logical sense. [0] https://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/batteries.html https://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/resources/ship/packaging/g... [1] http://www.labelmaster.com/fedex-battery-shipping-policy http://www.labelmaster.com/fedex-battery-shipping-policy
- sokoloff 9y agoThe likelihood of shorting exposed terminals on a lithium ion battery is lower if those terminals are enclosed in a device. The likelihood of crushing a lithium ion battery is lower if the battery is enclosed in a device.
- desdiv 9y ago"With equipment" doesn't require the battery to be actually plugged into the laptop. Most laptop manufacturers ship the laptop and the battery in separate plastic bags, and this still qualifies for the exemption. The rule would make a lot of sense if it requires the battery to be plugged in, but it doesn't.
- mturmon 9y agoThis is true. You can read about safety incidents involving Li batteries carried as cargo on airplanes. It's surprising what people will do - like put a spare Li battery in a plastic bag with a bunch of cables and wires. A wire then falls across the terminals, and you have trouble.
- martalist 9y agoLess chance of the battery terminals coming into contact with a random conductor and short circuiting, maybe?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jedberg 9y ago> I think that the rest of the world should return the favor and ban all laptops from US incoming flights. I mean, that will basically be the case anyway. If I leave the US, I'm not taking a laptop since I can't bring it back.