DOT & FAA Banning Lithium Ion Batteries as Cargo on Passenger Planes

For years we’ve been advising our readers that the Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries that power your drone should only travel in you carry-on bags when you fly.

LiPo’s are volatile, chemical based batteries that become more unstable as they age, and with changes in temperature.

Today the FAA and US Dept. of Transportation announced an outright ban on Lithium Ion batteries in the cargo hold of passenger aircraft.

For years, most airlines have been listing Lithium batteries as hazardous material and posting specific rules about how and where they may be permitted on an aircraft.  Until now, you could pack your drone with a battery installed in your checked bag.  With today’s announcment, not Lithium Ion batteries of any kind are permitted in the cargo hold of an aircraft.

In 2010, UPS Flight 006 originating in the Unted Arab Emirates crashed after takeoff and the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority later listed the cause as “autoignition of the contents of a cargo pallet, which contained more than 81,000 lithium type batteries.”

DJI has been shipping it’s drone batteries with labels indicating “Cargo Aircraft Only” for a couple of years.

The biggest risk, is the hundreds of thousand of drone owners who may not be aware that lithium batteries pose any risk to aircraft.

DJI and others sell special fire and explosion proof batteries for storing and transporting drone batteries.