CTX Battery in Checked Luggage

[tcornel]

As I was checking in for a flight tomorrow I noticed a statement that no lithium batteries can be in checked luggage and they must be carried on.

Is anyone pulling the ctx battery and putting in carry on? I have always just send the whole unit through checked baggage in my hard shelled case.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I always have left it in the checked bags. I never paid attention to exactly what kind of battery it used.

 

[kittlitz]

Interesting.. I have a flight coming up shortly.

Looks like this stems from a fairly recent (October) FAA warning: https://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/safo/all_safos/media/2015/SAFO15010.pdf

The warning refers specifically to spare lithium-ion batteries, so I'm not sure it would apply if the battery is connected to the CTX.

-Ken

 

[tcornel]

That is kind of how I read it. I also have always left it attached but the airlines warning during check in through a curve ball at me.

 

[Atlas]

You could swap the lithium pack with the spare alkaline pack for the checked bag and put the lithium pack in your carry on if your not sure and want to be 100% sure.

 

[bklein]

Think of these batteries as high intensity spontaneous fire sources. Each is a bag of nasty chemicals and gasses. In the aircraft baggage section it will expand and contract much more drastically than in the passenger area. On many such batteries there is a thermistor sensed safety circuit that will separate the battery from load if there is an issue there. But if the battery or this circuit is at fault it will go off. So where do you want it to burn - in the cargo hold where it will burn the whole plane up? Or perhaps in the luggage bin right adjacent to the thin aircraft skin (burns=rapid decompression and likely disintegration) - or in your bag under your seat? At least there you know what it is and can likely contain it - but everyone would have to get oxygen pretty quickly. I don't think airlines really understand how these batteries work - and don't work if manufactured wrong (hand assembled in China). I work with them a lot and have seen assembly faults - one just a few weeks ago that went with my boss to Japan and back. The battery remained good- just disconnected from its internal safety circuit due to shock or something. So this would likely mak/break contact during a flight. Any outgassing =hydrogen and a spark = boom. But it wasnt outgassing and was with him on his flights. We all have heard of these burning - this is usually due to something making the battery outgas - short in protection circuit, puncture in battery casing due to poor enclosure, or overcharging.

 

[Jason in Enid]

good info, but the baggage holds of almost every passenger jet is pressurized and temp controlled just like the cabin.

 

[kittlitz]

Checked in for a flight today. Though the FAA warning refers to only "spare batteries", the airline insists that any personal electronic device (i.e., something likely to have lithium battery) must be in carry-on rather than checked luggage. So... the CTX's lithium-ion battery will be joining me in the passenger cabin. I took Atlas's suggestion and plugged the empty alkaline pack into the CTX so that the clamps won't be loose.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Checked in for a flight today. Though the FAA warning refers to only "spare batteries", the airline insists that any personal electronic device (i.e., something likely to have lithium battery) must be in carry-on rather than checked luggage. So... the CTX's lithium-ion battery will be joining me in the passenger cabin. I took Atlas's suggestion and plugged the empty alkaline pack into the CTX so that the clamps won't be loose.

Yes, thats very important! I left my battery off during my last travel (just so it couldn't get turned on accidentally) and the suitcase apparently took a hard enough corner hit that it broke one my battery latches. I was not a happy camper when I had to buy duct tape to hold the battery on and forced to stay on the dry sand.