US pilots union wants ban on lithium batteries

The world's largest pilots union said it wants bulk shipments of lithium batteries and products containing the batteries immediately banned from passenger and cargo planes because they can start a fire.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said it is not prepared to take emergency action on the issue.

In seeking a federal ban, the Air Line Pilots Association pointed to three incidents since June in which lithium battery shipments apparently caused fires aboard US planes.

On August 14, a fire in a shipment of 1,000 e-cigarettes - a battery-powered device that provides inhaled doses of nicotine - was discovered in the cargo compartment of a plane after it landed at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. Each cigarette contained a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

In another instance, a package of cell phone batteries shipped from Michigan to the Dominican Republican was found smoking and smoldering after a United Parcel Service plane landed in Santo Domingo on July 15. The package documentation indicated "used batteries - non-haz."

A burned package containing a lithium-ion "bicycle-power device" was discovered in the cargo of a UPS flight from Ontario, California to Honolulu on June 18, the union said.

"The evidence of a clear and present danger is mounting," Mark Rogers, director of the union's dangerous good program, said in a statement. "We need an immediate ban on these dangerous goods to protect airline passengers, crews and cargo."