Shipping Lithium Batteries By Air: An Accident Waiting to Happen?

They're small, all around us, and seemingly harmless – lithium batteries are powering everything from laptops to cell phones, but does shipping batteries by air truly pose a safety risk? According to regulators, absolutely: A 2010 government analysis projected combustion of these common batteries could destroy an average of one U.S.-registered cargo jet every other year. Over the last few years, the batteries have been linked to at least two cargo plane crashes, one of them fatal. What role can you play in preventing these tragic incidents? Even the most knowledgeable hazmat professional may not understand just how transportation of lithium batteries can pose a risk, how real that risk is or how they can avoid it. Clearing facts from fiction surrounding transportation of lithium batteries can help you safeguard your own shipping processes.

Lithium Battery Risk – What Is It?

Disposable and long-lasting, lithium batteries depend on a lithium metal or lithium compounds as an anode and are common in consumer gadgets and plug-in devices. Problems arise, however, when these batteries short circuit, are overcharged or overheat and self-ignite, especially when shipping batteries by air. What follows, according to a Federal Aviation Administration study, is an at-times deadly chain reaction: The battery releases its energy, generating enough heat to cause other batteries nearby to go into their own “thermal runaway,” igniting and combusting at temperatures in excess of 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. When shipping batteries by air, temperatures on a cargo plane may already be close to lithium's auto-ignition temperature, making combustion easier. Since 2006, officials have blamed shipping batteries by air for multiple crashes and other air incidents, among them:
  • A United Parcel Service cargo plane with a fire raging on board, and carrying a large quantity of lithium batteries, crashed near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 3,  2010, killing both pilots.
  • A 2011 FAA report describes how an airport worker hooked up an energized ground-power unit to a Cessna Citation CJ4 (525C), the first business jet certified with a lithium-ion main-ship battery. Moments later, a fire erupted.
  • This time last year, a lithium battery short circuit was blamed when an Apple iPhone 4  began glowing red and smoking before having a minor combustion during a flight over Australia.
A recent review of NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS) databases found nine lithium-related incidents, including  two related to concerns about cargo loads that might not have been properly labeled. If shipping electronics is key to your business, it's clear to see you must take the right steps when it comes to transportation of lithium batteries.

Shipping Batteries By Air Safely

As a shipping professional,  your job is not only to ensure materials reach the customer, but also that they do so safely and intact. The good news is, there are ways to prevent transportation of lithium batteries from triggering a catastrophic event. The most important one is knowing the truth surrounding lithium batteries.
  • There are NOT chemicals you can add to batteries to prevent their explosion.

Some companies might advertise lithium polymer batteries in particular with special chemicals designed to raise lithium's trigger point temperature. It's unclear if these actually work. What is clear is shortcuts nearly always lead to disaster. It's best to focus on proper packaging and careful transportation of lithium batteries to prevent explosion.

  • These batteries are NOT naturally unstable; you can prevent an explosion.

Lithium batteries don't spontaneously combust, per se.  Overheating or mishandling leading to a short circuit during transportation of lithium batteries is what causes them to explode. The chances of this are highest during transport, making following the proper shipping technique and using the highest quality shipping materials crucial. This is especially important when shipping batteries by air.

  • A cargo crew will NOT automatically take steps to prevent explosion

In fact, the crew may not know that it is shipping lithium batteries by air. Crew members also are limited in what preventative steps they can take once an item has already been packaged. Make their job safer by being cautious with this hazardous material.

All of the above makes it clear that careful transportation of lithium batteries is vital. While lithium battery makers and regulators debate just how to improve lithium battery transportation, there are steps you can take. Safety starts with shipping: Using approved packaging and specific shipping techniques. Visit our guide to safe transportation of lithium batteries to learn techniques that will keep your lithium batteries stable during shipment and ensure that an accident doesn't happen on your watch.

Finding all these new regulations confusing and hard to follow, we want to make your job a little easier.  Click here to download our easy to use checklists for shipping lithium batteries by air!

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