U.S. airplane fire safety rules stall

WASHINGTON — A year ago, the U.S. government was campaigning for an international ban on shipments of rechargeable batteries on passenger planes because the batteries can self-ignite, creating intense fires capable of destroying an airliner.

“The risk is immediate and urgent,” Angela Stubblefield, a U.S. aviation official, declared then.

Today, that urgency has evaporated as safety regulations stall under President Donald Trump’s push to ease what he sees as red tape holding back the country’s economy.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency that sets global aviation safety standards, decided last year to ban bulk shipments of lithiumion batteries on international passenger flights. On cargo flights, the batteries can be charged to no more than 30 per cent, a level that may reduce the likelihood of fires.

As a result, countries around the world have been adopting the new international standard for domestic flights as well. The Obama administration also looked to do so, submitting rules for publication that makes them binding. But after Trump took office on Jan. 20, he signed an executive order freezing the publication of new regulations. That means airlines and cargo operators remain free to ignore the standard for domestic flights.

The Obama administration had considered the change so urgent, it was fast-tracked in the rule-making process. Trump’s executive order says urgent safety rules can be exempted from the freeze, but the new administration isn’t invoking that exemption for battery shipments.

“This is part of our ongoing regulatory review,” the Transportation Department said in a statement. “The safe movement of hazardous materials remains a priority. We will provide updates as soon as decisions are made with regard to these and other issues at hand.” No time frame was provided. Rechargeable batteries are used in consumer products ranging from cellphones and laptops to electric cars.

Manufacturers like them because they pack more energy into smaller packages, but the batteries can self-ignite if they have a manufacturing flaw, are damaged, exposed to excessive heat, overcharged or packed too closely together.

Since 2006, three cargo jets have been destroyed and four pilots killed by inflight fires that accident investigators say were either started by batteries or made more severe by their proximity.

Most passenger carriers and some cargo operators are voluntarily abiding by the international standard for their domestic operations for the time being. Trade associations for the U.S. and international airline industries say they support extending the standard to domestic flights.

But lobbyists for the battery industry, which opposed the international standard when it was adopted last year, are urging administration officials to make changes that would allow certain batteries to continue to be shipped on passenger flights.