Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lithium-Ion Batteries Linked to Airplane Fires

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the mine-keep-not-exploding dept.

smellsofbikes writes "The National Safety Transportation Board thinks it's possible that lithium-ion batteries caused a fire that destroyed a United Parcel Service airplane on Feb 8, 2006. The FAA already bans non-rechargeable lithium batteries from air shipment because aircraft don't carry fire suppression equipment capable of extinguishing lithium fires. The interesting thing is: these batteries aren't being used or charged, they're just being shipped: spontaneous battery combustion. Is this something that happens in the back of computer stores, or just on airplanes?"

13 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Close Call... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The good news is that it wasn't an exploding MacBook.

  2. Warning... by CaseM · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oxygen linked to fires...time to take ACTION!!

  3. Fragile by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Funny

    UPS Dictionary says .....

    Fragile (fra-gil-lay) from early French n. To toss about with reckless abandon.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re:Fragile by SharkJumper · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pssh.

      Fragile (frah-jee-lay). Italian n. Major Award.

  4. I smell a fire^w new movie plot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    How about another airplane disaster movie? I'm thinking of calling it...

    "Li-ons on planes"

  5. Re:tick...tick...tick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Ban everything except naked humans.

    Safety at all costs!

  6. litte kid asks.. "how did you loose your leg" by absinthminded64 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The War? No. . Motorcycle accident? No. . Slashdot? YES!!!

    "Here's something you can try at home if you're a total skeptic" ..

    Skepticism. . like exploding batteries. . is dangerous. .

    1. Re:litte kid asks.. "how did you loose your leg" by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Funny

      I figure anyone who actually tries it deserves one of these

      Kind of like the oakie who went to the doctor for a vasectomy:

      Oakie: I want to get a vasectomy.
      Dr: Just put a cherry bomb in an empty beer can and count to 10.

      ... Oakie sees 3 doctors, and they all say the same thing ... until finally ...

      Dr: No problem, my secretary can book you an appointment.
      Oakie: Great doc. Hey, can you explain why all the other docs said I should just stick a cherry bomb in an empty beer can and count to ten?
      Dr: Oh, you're an oakie? Sorry, just stick a cherry bomb in a beer can and count to 10. It works.

      Later that day ... Oakie has his buddy over, explains how the docs all told him the same thing.

      Billy-Bod: Youy gonna try it?
      Oakie: Might as well ...

      (Oakie puts lit cherry bomb in tin can, holds can in one hand, starts counting on his fingers with the other hand ..
      1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ...

      (runs out of fingers, holds tin can between thighs so he can continue counting ...)

  7. In related news... by epp_b · · Score: 3, Funny

    Several airlines have just announced that they are banning the in-flight use of Dell laptops.

  8. Re:Nope, it happens in plenty of places by rco3 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Flashlight geeks?

    Where on the geek scale does *that* fit?    "

    Oh, they're some of the brightest geeks you'll find.

    --

    Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
  9. Re:squished? by Directrix1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was just happy that I finally got to find a real household use for Pyrex :-P.

    --
    Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  10. Snakes on a Plane by JestersPet · · Score: 2, Funny

    Someone inform David Ellis & Samuel Jackson! This has "Snakes on a Plane II" written all over it.

    1. Re:Snakes on a Plane by RCO · · Score: 2, Funny

      Batteries catching fire in a long cylindrical object has bad mojo written all over it...

      The jokes alone would put that movie into the soft prOn catagory.

      --
      'And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo Every day you meet quite a few...'