Thank goodness the U.S. has backtracked on the electronics ban.
As a lithium ion battery fire on a JetBlue flight in May reminds us, lithium ion batteries can be dangerous. When they catch fire in the cabin there are procedures to put them out. When they catch fire in the cargo hold of a plane, they can burn out of control.
That’s why airlines generally ban spare lithium ion batteries in checked luggage. And one reason it was such a bad idea for the U.S. government to require the lithium ion batteries in laptops and other large electronic devices to go into checked luggage.
While the U.S. has lifted the electronics ban on flights from Istanbul’s Atatürk airport, the U.K. continues to ban such electronics from Istanbul. One passenger apparently got mad.
A passenger declined to surrender a powerbank embarking on a UK bound flight.During the argument he crashed the item on a hard surface and++
— Istanbul Airport (@istanbulairport) July 6, 2017
Perhaps as if to demonstrate the absurdity of the ban, the passenger threw the battery and boom.
Small explosion and fire at Gate 710 (US departure) at Ataturk airport, Istanbul. I was 10m away from it. pic.twitter.com/Y3uLN8l6jg
— Greg Luck (@gregrluck) July 6, 2017
Better prior to boarding than in the cargo hold of Turkish flight TK1971 to London, I suppose. Although here’s another case where security procedures didn’t actually contribute to security:
In the drama a whole bunch of us went through without having our hand luggage checked myself included so I hope this was not a distraction.
— Greg Luck (@gregrluck) July 6, 2017
(HT: Paul H.)
GARY, YOU’RE BEHIND ON THE DEPENDENT PASSENGER FLYING OUT OF SEATTLE
Wait im confused did the passenger know it was going to explode or he just slammed it down and boom?
It shows the TSA ignores unintended consequences. It is so focused on “how do we stop a terrorist from bringing a bomb on board flights into the U.S. from certain specific airports” that it doesn’t consider the results of its actions. Here it’s fire danger from exploding batteries. In the case of domestic flights, it’s the carnage on the highways involving people who choose not to fly because of all the hassles. I think it would be entirely reasonable to require TSA to consider potential negative safety and behavior consequences of actions it takes as well as potential gains.
“To protest …”? Really?