Lithium battery used during flight ignites and starts fire on Delta aircraft

This is REALLY scary. I don't charge my phone while in flight. I wonder if there is something I can put my power bank in to make it safer when I fly. I do bring one in my carry-on.

Laurie Beth, I know. I'm a little nervous about it, too. The incident here could have been an anomaly but there is a reason the airlines have rules about them. Maybe there should be a rule that they can't be used during a flight.

Southwest Airlines already has new rules in place.

When a portable charger/power bank is used during a flight, it must be out of any baggage and remain in plain sight. Do not charge devices in the overhead bin.

Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted.

It's not just power banks that can be a problem - they are less than half of the reported incidents by the FAA. Sounds like powering down one's devices and watching cartoons on the screen is the only safe option left.

FROM FORBES MAGAZINE:
In the United States, the FAA has reported 632 lithium battery incidents since the agency began tracking such events in 2006—with more than one third (246) involving portable battery packs. The FAA confirmed 89 lithium battery incidents on aircraft in 2024—an average of 1.7 per week. These events have become more frequent in recent years with the proliferation of personal devices powered by lithium-ion batteries, such as laptops, tablets, cell phones, vape pens and portable chargers. In 2014, the FAA reported only nine lithium battery incidents all year.

The biggest fire danger with Lithium Ion is overcharging. And sometimes they skimp on the circuitry that controls the charging. Or someone uses a charger that isn't so good. Or...

If the Li-Ion are not being charged or discharged, just sitting there in luggage => safest

Using them => discharging them => very small danger

Charging them => bigger, but still small danger

Be careful with any dents or drops, that's also one of the most common ways to cause a fire when the internal structures are damaged by impact but it doesn't show.

This describes most of the failure possibilities and what you can do:

https://www.renogy.com/blog/top-8-reasons-why-lithiumion-batteries-catch-fire

The main problem is neither the type of device nor the technology used.

The two main problems are (most) Asian manufacturers of technical scrap and the people who buy such without any idea of what they do and may cause.

Never buy "incredible cheap" tech devices without any certifications or quality criteria from the new Asian platforms.

Exactly, MarkK! I onlyl buy Anker power banks, they work very, very well.

I buy Anker power banks as well. But even Anker can have problems. They recently recalled one model that is prone to ignite.

Thanks Mardee. I have been charging things with my Anker power bank onboard. My flight days are long as they are everyone who has to fly to a hub for an international flight. I usually charge my watch midway while I’m sleeping and sometimes my phone. The times Ive tried to use a power port on the plane, the plug never seemed to stay in. I’ll rethink that!

Your phone also uses a lithium battery, thus why if you drop it in the seat, you need to call the flight attendant. The 787 uses a lithium battery, which some of you may remember, had issues. Fix, put it in a containment box. And Teslas and floods are not a good combination. Quality matters, but even quality items can overheat and cause problems. I don't believe anyone has been able to completely remove the risk associated with lithium batteries. And they are everywhere.

For a flight, I think the main thing is to have it out and visible so that if an issue starts, it can be contained. Flight attendants have lithium battery fire containment bags/boxes.

"I don't believe anyone has been able to completely remove the risk associated lithium batteries."

They haven't.

[shrug]

Seems like the possibilities for these fires are ~ order as a serious Airplane fault. I don't worry about those but some people do.

edit: the new restrictions on the batteries seem reasonable

That’s what cause the fire on a California diving boat and left 33 guests dead.

I remember the fire started in the galley where people charged their phones overnight. Experts believe a lithium battery from a cell phone caught fire.