Mon, May 18, 2009
ALPA Urges Lawmakers To Rope In The Exception To The Rule
The Air Line Pilot's Association has
echoed some of the sentiments recently expressed over potential
hazards presented by certain battery components and technologies
carried by passengers -- or contained in airborne baggage or
freight. Since the pilots flying potentially affected aircraft are
the "first person at the scene of the accident," the House
committee actually seemed to be paying attention.
First Officer Mark Rogers, ALPA's Dangerous Goods Programs
director, urged Congress to ensure the safe transport of cargo
shipments of lithium batteries during his testimony Thursday before
the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous
Materials.
“Today, we are asking that cargo shipments of lithium
batteries be fully regulated as a hazardous material,” Rogers
said. “These batteries pose a risk when not transported
correctly, and have a history of causing fires aboard our
aircraft.”
Lithium ion batteries (such as those found in laptops and cell
phones) and lithium metal batteries (such as those found in watches
and cameras) are currently granted an exception from many of the
hazardous material provisions. These provisions include placing a
dangerous-goods label on the package; notifying the pilot in
command of their presence; performing an acceptance check of the
package by airline personnel; and limiting the quantity normally
applied to hazardous materials carried in cargo compartments.
“ALPA also asked that the current ban on bulk shipments of
lithium metal batteries, which aircraft fire suppression systems
cannot extinguish, be extended to all-cargo aircraft until adequate
packaging can be developed,” Rogers concluded.
“ALPA has long been an advocate of one level of safety for
cargo and passenger aircraft, and we find it particularly troubling
that a commodity completely prohibited on passenger aircraft may be
transported nearly unregulated on all-cargo aircraft.”
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