Travellers flying this summer time will have to remember of a brand new rule referring to transportable chargers on Southwest Airlines flights. Starting May 28, passengers the use of transportable chargers with batteries, together with energy banks and make contact with battery circumstances, should stay those units in simple sight whilst charging. This way lively chargers can’t be saved in overhead packing containers or below seats, they want to stay visual all through the flight.
Southwest is the primary main U.S. airline to put into effect this coverage, however different carriers may undertake identical laws quickly. The requirement applies handiest when the charger is actively powering every other tool. When no longer in use, passengers would possibly stay their battery packs inside of carry-on luggage.
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Safety Concerns Drive Policy Change
This transfer follows considerations about lithium-ion battery fires on planes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports 22 showed incidents this 12 months involving lithium-ion batteries, with a document 89 cases in 2024 up to now. Since 2006, there were 620 general incidents involving those batteries, with vaping units and cellphones additionally contributing, in keeping with a Gizmodo report.
Airlines in Asia already implement identical insurance policies. For instance, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways ban the use or charging of energy banks right through flights. The exchange got here after a number of fires, together with one on an Air Busan airplane in January, the place a fireplace broken the airplane’s roof and compelled the evacuation of 176 passengers. Though the reason stays unconfirmed, regulators tightened laws on transportable chargers afterwards.
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Recent incidents within the U.S. come with smoke from a pc bag on a San Francisco flight and an emergency touchdown in Jacksonville in 2023 after a battery stuck hearth in an overhead bin.
What Passengers Need to Know
The TSA lately prohibits lithium batteries in checked baggage however lets in them in carry-on luggage. Southwest’s new rule calls for passengers to stay chargers visual when charging to assist flight crews temporarily locate any issues.
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Passengers will have to alert staff contributors straight away in the event that they realize smoke or hearth right through a flight. Flight attendants obtain coaching to care for lithium battery incidents and stay everybody secure.
Source: tech.hindustantimes.com
