When you’ve flown just lately, you could have heard the flight attendant point out that energy banks can solely be used in the event that they’re underneath your fixed supervision throughout the predeparture briefing. In reality, Southwest Airways simply unveiled a brand new coverage that if you happen to use a transportable charger in-flight it should stay in plain sight. “Don’t cost units within the overhead bin,” Southwest warns. And a number of other Asian airways have carried out the same coverage, prohibiting fliers from putting batteries within the overhead bins or banning passengers from utilizing moveable batteries in any respect throughout the flight.
Equally, if you happen to’ve checked a bag, the agent most likely requested if you happen to had any objects with lithium-ion batteries—together with laptops, cell telephones, tablets, digital toothbrushes, and different rechargeable objects—in your baggage and if you happen to do, that you simply take them out, as federal guidelines mandate that they have to go in a carry-on bag or be left at dwelling.
The problem is that lithium-ion batteries are able to overheating or short-circuiting, particularly if they’re broken, in accordance with College of Michigan professor Venkat Viswanathan, an knowledgeable in batteries for aviation, This, in flip, can result in a course of referred to as thermal runaway, leading to smoke, hearth, and, in some instances, explosions.
“If one in every of them catches hearth, then in a short time, the complete cargo maintain may very well be in flames,” Viswanathan stated.
Whereas thermal runaway occasions are uncommon, they do occur. In November 2024, as an example, a mobile phone caught hearth within the cabin of a aircraft shortly earlier than takeoff. The passengers needed to evacuate and two folks have been injured.
In response to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there have been 620 verified incidents in the USA involving lithium batteries between March 3, 2006, and April 27, 2025. Of these, at the least 465 incidents occurred within the cabin and 129 within the cargo maintain (the remaining weren’t categorised). The most typical subject concerned battery packs (240 incidents), adopted by e-cigarettes (131), mobile telephones (93), different digital units (78), laptop computer computer systems (75), and medical units (3).
The variety of incidents has trended upward yearly since 2014, aside from 2019 and 2020.
Between January 1 and Could 23, 2025 (when the FAA most just lately up to date its on-line incident report), there have been 22 incidents. New FAA knowledge exhibits it occurs on a mean of two flights every week.
John Cox, CEO of aviation consulting agency Security Working Programs and a former pilot, added that whereas thermal runaway isn’t splendid in both the cabin or in cargo, if a battery does start to smoke or catches hearth, flight attendants can reply to the difficulty extra shortly within the cabin.
Cox stated he expects that the “variety of lithium battery fires, on airplanes and elsewhere, will proceed to extend. That is because of the improve of lithium batteries in our society.”
To assist cut back the chance of those incidents, the FAA encourages fliers to verify for recollects or damages to their units, as they’re extra “more likely to create sparks or generate a harmful evolution of warmth.”
Passengers may defend themselves and others by conserving electronics in a sleeve or case. If a tool is squeezed too onerous, it might injury the battery, which might trigger thermal runaway—slightly cushion from protecting casing helps forestall that from taking place. Equally, in case your mobile phone falls between the seats, it’s essential to not attempt to retrieve it your self—if it will get broken, the battery would possibly smoke or catch hearth. Flight attendants are educated to retrieve telephones safely.
Moreover, passengers can forestall thermal runaway on planes by turning units utterly off when not in use.
In case your machine ought to overheat, smoke, or ignite midflight, contact a crew member instantly. They’ve hearth extinguishers and thermal containment baggage, which limit oxygen to the machine and forestall the unfold of fireplace, to assist neutralize the hazard.
This text was initially printed in October 2023, and was up to date on Could 23, 2025, to incorporate present info.