A serial of mental testing by the US Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) shows that the flames created by just one lithium ion electric battery overheating could overwhelm the ardour suppression organization in commercial-grade rider airliner cargo hold and potentially down the entire plane , according to theAmerican Journal of Transportation(AJOT ) .
Obviously , this is a troubling finding for safety official who believed that the automatize extinguishing – an crucial feature of all aircraft because cabin bunch can not get into the storage area to armed combat fires – was sufficient to alleviate the farm threat of battery fire .
Li - ion batteries , often refer to as Li - ion , are the most popular type of rechargeable shelling due to their high energy efficiency and longsighted lifetime . presently , they are used in almost every type of portable electronic gadget , including laptops , music histrion , camera , tablets , and cell phones . And while you may not be cognizant of how many of your possession are powered by Li - ion batteries , you may have heard that they very rarely get a malfunction that causes them to overheat to the stage that a temperature - raising positive feedback closed circuit , calledthermal runaway , is initiated . This self - destructing process culminates in an extremely red-hot , smoking assault and battery that may get fire , or – as several 2006 laptops and one peculiarly ill-famed 2016 smartphone demonstrated – explode .
As reported by the AJOT , it is the presence of such combustibles that could make a put in runaway battery a pernicious event . The FAA trial , impart last yr , demonstrated that planes ’ automatedhalon flatulency - emitting ardor suppressionsystems can not put out a lithium - ion battery flack but can forbid the flames from spreading to nearby article of clothing or paper token . However , in a set - up mimicking a suitcase with an overheating Li - ion battery stored next to an aerosol product , the halon gas was incompetent of preclude the gas canister from exploding .
“ There is the potentiality for the resulting event to exceed the capabilities of the plane to cope with it , ” the FAA order in a notice to airlines . The findings inspire them to petition the UN International Civil Aviation Organization for a complete banning on electronics tumid than cell phones in checked bags , but the proposal was rejected .
