Travelling safely with PEDs

After the so-called laptop-ban issued by the US government (http://cnnmon.ie/2n38qrt) and the subsequent reaction of ECA (http://bit.ly/2hR4ZoL), EASA published an updated Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) (http://bit.ly/2EB23H1) to inform airlines and passengers on how to fly safely carrying Portable Electronic Devices (PED) at the end of 2017. PED containing lithium batteries such as laptops, mobile phones, tablets, electronic cigarettes should be carried in the passenger cabin, to enable the crew to react rapidly in case an incident involving such a PED occurs.

In case large PEDs cannot be carried in the passenger cabin due to their size, and therefore have to be carried in checked baggage, they must be:

• Completely switched off and effectively protected from accidental activation. To ensure the device is never powered on during its transport, any application, alarm or pre-set configuration that may activate it shall be deactivated;
  Protected from the risk of accidental damage by applying suitable packaging or casing or by being placed in a rigid bag protected by adequate cushioning (e.g. clothing);
• Not carried in the same baggage together with flammable material (e.g. perfumes, aerosols, etc.);

Watch the video on EASA website: http://bit.ly/2cEOlBx.

Bag it! Or not…?

A number of manufacturers are marketing fire containment kits/bags to be used in case of a Personal Electronic Device (PED) fire. The FAA warns that companies producing these bags advertise that their products are: “FAA certified”. However, there are no FAA test standards for these containment products, nor is there a mechanism in place for approval.

Regardless of how effective any of these containment kits/bags are, once the battery is placed in them, the highest risk may lie in the transfer of a burning or overheated battery to the containment kit/bag. This is in line with IFALPA’s Position (9-Nov-2017) which warns that “because Lithium battery thermal runaways tend to propagate from cell to cell, it is extremely dangerous to move these items before the device has cooled.”

Therefore, both FAA and IFALPA do not support any procedure that suggests moving a burning, smoking or hot device, but recommend continued application of water or other non-flammable aqueous substance for a period of at least 15 minutes after a fire has been extinguished or the smoke has dissipated. A cooled device may then be placed in a receptacle (catering container or fire bag), that will hold water or other non-flammable liquid for continued cooling.

Although some Belgian companies have PED fire procedures in place, they require the removal of the smoking/burning device after applying Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for example in case of an overheating Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). When asked, the BCAA replied us that procedures are described in ICAO DOC 9481 “Emergency Response Guidance for Aircraft Incidents Involving Dangerous Goods. “In case of a PED-fire, the crew will first need to extinguish the fire then cool the PED before moving it into a water-filled container.” They also told us not to be aware of any reference to possible leakage from the flight deck into the avionics bay.

References:

IFALPA (2017) PED Smoke or Fire Response Kit – http://bit.ly/2HbFDKS
FAA (2017) InFO 17021 – http://bit.ly/2CguyEK