Another battery incident during flight

Good advice! Thanks.

The rules on charging electronic devices seems to vary a bit from one airline to another. The current rules at Air Canada are.....

"Air Canada provides USB ports for charging at every seat across its fleet, while standard AC power outlets are available at all Business Class seats and select Economy Class seats. If you are wondering about the "light" on your charger, standard USB and AC plugs are permitted to stay connected to your devices throughout the flight."

The rules at WestJet, our other large airline state....

"WestJet allows you to charge your phone in-flight, provided you follow specific aircraft and safety rules. Many upgraded aircraft feature USB-A and USB-C ports in Economy, while Premium cabins include universal AC sockets. However, you cannot use portable power banks to charge devices if onboard power is available."

Charging of or use of power banks on flights is often not allowed.

The rules may change from time-to-time, so I normally check the current rules with the CATSA / TSA website before travel.

If you want to get down in the weeds on the topic then start with these two documents. If not, then the flight attendant will tell you what you can and can not do along with the seatbelt instructions.

ICAO stands for the International Civil Aviation Organization. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that regulates international air transport. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, it establishes global standards and safety regulations to ensure civil aviation operates safely, securely, and efficiently across its 193 member states: https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/APAC/Meetings/2025/2025%20APRAST24/3-Working%20Papers/WP-10-AI_5%20-%20Harmonised%20approach%20to%20Lithium_Ion%20Power%20Bank%20Carriage.pdf

IATA stands for the International Air Transport Association. It is the global trade association for the world's airlines, representing over 370 airlines and accounting for roughly 85% of total global air traffic: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/05e6d8742b0047259bf3a700bc9d42b9/lithium-battery-guidance-document.pdf

Power Banks are sold in mAh and the rules are in Wh. The limitation of 100 Wh is roughly 27,000 mAh. It depends a lot on your phone, but 5,000 mAh will generally get you a half to maybe a full charge. I generally recharge at 25% so I get back to 100% with my now getting very old 5,000 mAh power bank. 10,000 mAh will get most phones 1 to 1.5 full charges.

Luggage screeners in Viêt Nam somehow screen for battery devices in checked baggage, and hold out suitcases containing them, trying to contact the passenger in time to have them retrieve the device before the flight boards. On a tour in 2024, one person had inadvertently left their charging device in the checked suitcase, but the tour leader was somehow identified at the airport, and went with the fellow tour participant to open the bag and get the device. No incidents inside the passenger cabin during the flight, thankfully.

https://www.frommers.com/tips/airfare/airline-rules-for-lithium-batteries-are-changing-in-2027-be-prepared/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce979zpjj85o

The now-essential (should I say mandatory for living and traveling?) smartphones are coming with more and more accessory devices, which bring more and more complications/potential risks.

Airlines are, clearly out of necessity, developing new policies, to deal with risks of fire. How many places down on the ground (or out on the water) are going to need similar policies, as chargers and batteries become more and more commonplace, with increasing risks?

Smoking of cigarettes on planes stopped years ago. Now it’s the lithium batteries doing the smoking.

... complications/potential risks

Cyn, the worst complications and risks exist with the production of lithium. In comparison the fires are an inconvenience.

In comparison the fires are an inconvenience.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-busan-plane-fire-airbus-a321-injuries-photos-gimhae-international-airport/

https://ingest.abcnews.com/US/4-injured-after-battery-caught-fire-united-flight/story?id=96953705

https://www.flyingmag.com/news-ups-747-crash-highlights-lithium-battery-danger/

There is a safer battery coming, Lithium Iron Phosphate. It used to be more expensive but that's changed. It still has ~ 1/4 less power density though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery

[snip]
There is a significant safety property to LFP batteries; in a stable active condition the chemical composition does not combust when exposed to normal ambient air, it is less prone to causing a fire and considered incombustible, with good overall thermal and chemical stability.

Another power bank bursts into flames during flight, this incident involved a KLM flight over the Atlantic Ocean on Sep. 17, 2026. The passenger, a former CEO of the airline, was charging his power bank during the flight. Since this is against the airline safety rules; he could very well face cost liability and legal consequences. Luckily no one was injured; the outcome of this incident could have been a lot worse.

Passengers need to take the battery bank safety rules and advice seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFH71FLxREw

That wasn't a passenger, that was a (former) CEO. They don't take "no" seriously.

Interestingly in relation to the recent KLM incident is that when I flew 2 KLM CityHopper flights in August the FAs made THREE announcements regarding power banks and lithium batteries BEFORE the standard safety instructions on the tarmac.

The first flight I thought holy cow. The 2nd flight I thought obviously their SOP.

Pam - same here. I flew 3 KLM flights this month, 2 were cityhoppers. All had significant message about power-bank.

On my AMS-SFO flight, I was seated on bulkhead seat and of course, my backpack and carry-on were in the overhead bin. Crew came to ask if I had power-bank in backpack. I had already taken it out and it was on my small purse on my lap.

There is a tendency to ignore rules. The logic is, "ive been on 1000 flights and none caught fire so I wont be inconveienced by having to carry my powerbank in my underseat bag." Well to be honest, then, most people stuff their underseat bag in the overhead with the logic that no one ever gets caught. Basically more of the same.

Sounds like the fires disproportinately involve power banks, and that for whatever reason, regulations don't appear to be solving the problem. Banning power banks completely from planes is the next logical step, and as it would not cause the same level of hardship as banning LiIon batteries entirely (except perhaps arguably to Amazon and the Chinese economy 😄) , I rather expect it to happen sooner or later. I mean one already cannot bring peanut butter on board and TTBOMK it hasn't yet been implicated in any fires apart from heartburn 😂

The logic is, "ive been on 1000 flights and none caught fire so I wont be inconveienced by having to carry my powerbank in my underseat bag."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalization_of_deviance

[snip]
Normalization of deviance, according to American sociologist Diane Vaughan, is the process in which deviance from correct or proper behavior or rule becomes culturally normalized.[1]

Vaughan defines the process where a clearly unsafe practice becomes considered normal if it does not immediately cause a catastrophe: "a long incubation period [before a final disaster] with early warning signs that were either misinterpreted, ignored or missed completely".[2][3]