The air cargo industry is moving towards tightened rules for the airborne carriage of lithium-ion batteries. A new, non-mandatory guideline is due to be introduced in January, and work has started on new criteria for packaging and battery classification.

In early December, the International Civil Aviation Administration (ICAO) endorsed proposals from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the separation of lithium batteries from other hazardous materials. The airline body has suggested that lithium batteries should be segregated from class one dangerous goods in containers and cargo compartments.

The new rule was borne out of the investigation of the crash of Asiana flight 991 in 2011, when a fire erupted on a Boeing 747 freighter en route from Seoul to Shanghai, causing the loss of the aircraft and both pilots. Besides various electronics products, the plane was carrying lithium batteries as well as paint, resin solutions and other liquids.

To date, OZ 991 is the only fatal crash in which both lithium batteries and other hazardous materials have been identified, leading to a possible interplay of the different elements. Dave Brennan, the organization’s assistant director of cargo safety and standards, said that the new rule is meant to reduce risk.

“It is difficult to quantify the degree of improvement that this will achieve as there have been no other events other than that identified in the accident report from the Asiana fire and crash. However, it should not take multiple events to act. Fires in cargo departments are serious events, and any action that can reduce the potential severity of the fire, and therefore the outcome, is worth implementing,” he said.

The new rule is due to be brought in early in 2018. Initially it will be on a voluntary basis, but ICAO is looking to implement mandatory compliance the year after.

Meanwhile, IATA has embarked on efforts to develop new lithium battery classifications as well as a new packaging standard to further boost safety of carriage of such cargo by air.

The new standard will involve defined test criteria where a lithium cell in the package is slowly heated until the cell goes into thermal runaway. The package is then observed in a containment chamber to identify if there is any flame, gas or projectiles escape through the package.

Brennan expects the standard to be ready halfway through 2018, noting that work on the testing requirements has progressed well. Pending the outcome of a review meeting in February, there should be a vote on it soon afterwards. If this endorses the standard, it will be up to ICAO how to introduce it into the air transport regulations.

Developing and promulgating a new classification will take longer, Brennan said. While there was a meeting of the United Nations working group on the matter in early December to consider a hazard-based approach to classification, at this stage much of the work is still on data collection to identify what criteria could be used in any new classification scheme, he explained.

“In my opinion, it will probably take another three years to conclude the work for possible adoption into the UN Model Regulations. That would mean any new classification scheme would not come into effect until 2023,” he said.

At this stage, it is too early to say how a new set of categories will pan out, he added.

Ultimately this work could open the door to admitting lithium batteries into the cargo holds of passenger aircraft again, where they are currently banned.

Arguably a bigger headache for the industry is the issue of lithium battery shipments that are not properly identified and packaged, a concern that has grown exponentially with the rise of e-commerce.

“There has been work by a couple of companies that build screening equipment to develop methods to detect lithium batteries. However, in the absence of requirements by security authorities there has been no work to implement screening for undeclared lithium batteries. Many airlines have implemented their own vetting requirements for shipments from high-risk airports to better detect undeclared lithium batteries. IATA still believes that this effort should be coordinated by governments so that there is a consistent approach,” Brennan said.

The organization has endeavoured to spread awareness through workshops and safety campaigns. However, some shippers seem impervious to instruction. In early December the US Federal Aviation Administration proposed a US$1.1 million penalty against a Florida-based battery maker, charging the firm with handing four shipments containing lithium batteries to FedEx on June 1 that were improperly packaged and failed US testing standards. One of the batteries caught fire while being moved on a truck.

One reason for the record-setting fine was that the company had previously been fined for shipping undeclared lithium batteries by air.

By Ian Putzger

Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto