Are lithium-ion batteries the next threat to airline safety?

[Cap'n Jack]

So claims our favorite birdcage liner and fish wrapper:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2010-08-16-airlinebatteries16_CV_N.htm

Lithium-battery experts, security analysts and flight attendants wonder, though, if stricter rules are also needed in airline passenger cabins to prevent fires or worse: a possible attempt by a terrorist to bring down a plane by rigging a large number of batteries together to start a fire.

 

[ScottM]

Wanna see me start a fire real quick with a battery of any technology and some steel wool?

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Wanna see me start a fire real quick with a battery of any technology and some steel wool?

That's pretty much what an old camera flash bulb used.

 

[ScottM]

That's pretty much what an old camera flash bulb used.

Yep, pretty much. So targeting a specific battery technology as being more likely to be used as a terrorist weapon is pretty silly if you ask me. But good ole McPaper is never one to pass up a chance to fear monger a bit before they are used to wrap up the fish.

 

[Baron2PG]

As always the rules are behind the technology curve. The newer Lithium "mixes" such as LiFePO4 have higher energy density and don't suffer from the runaway heat and impact problems of the original Lithium chemistry.

 

[weilke]

Anyone seen the videos of runaway laptop Li Ion gel batteries? Pretty scary.
But given that it still takes several minutes for them to blow, it doesn't really lend itself as a terrorist weapon.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

like this?

 

[weilke]

like this?

There is a nice one at LAX. Someone charges their laptop at an outlet, it starts smoking and eventually blows up.

 

[jasc15]

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

like this?

 

[weilke]

like this?

Company IT nazis block youtube. If the video shows a laptop on the floor smoking and hysterically screaming passengers and a couple of airport donut-eaters around it, yes, its that one.

 

[JeffDG]

Further info:

A laptop battery contains roughly the stored energy of a hand grenade, and if shorted it ... hey! You can't arrest me if I prove your rules inconsistent!

http://xkcd.com/651/

 

[wsuffa]

Yep, pretty much. So targeting a specific battery technology as being more likely to be used as a terrorist weapon is pretty silly if you ask me. But good ole McPaper is never one to pass up a chance to fear monger a bit before they are used to wrap up the fish.

CBS radio news was also fear mongering on this topic yesterday. Why let the facts get in the way of agenda?

 

[Pi1otguy]

CBS radio news was also fear mongering on this topic yesterday. Why let the facts get in the way of agenda?

The terrorist will just "body packed" bombs complete with detonator next time. I'm honestly amazed that airport security hasn't destroyed the industry yet.

In the words of the late George Carlin "An airplane flight shouldn't be completely safe." Oh I'd love to see a politician or safety personnel saw that and see what happens.

 

[shenanigans]

Some clever person will always be able to figure out a way to create a fire or explosion on an airliner as long as we're allowed to bring almost anything we want onto the plane. I'm still amazed that there aren't more incidents.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

The terrorist will just "body packed" bombs complete with detonator next time. I'm honestly amazed that airport security hasn't destroyed the industry yet.

I would think it would be a lot easier to just bring a few hundred pounds of explosives in on a catering truck...

 

[Pi1otguy]

I would think it would be a lot easier to just bring a few hundred pounds of explosives in on a catering truck...

Assuming their goals include hitting us economically, then the security screening required for body packing would hurt far more then delaying catering trucks at the airport gate.