When a Single Overheating Lithium Battery Causes Devastating Scenes: This is Why Lithium Batteries Are So Dangerous

 The aviation industry learned the hard way about the true dangers of lithium batteries within the last two decades. But despite strict regulations, they still cause scary scenes on commercial flights. 

The Japan Airlines 787 involved in the lithium battery fire of 2013; Source: Wikipedia

January 7, 2013 didn’t start well for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. While parked at Boston Logan International, a Japan Airlines aircraft caught fire — luckily, nobody was injured and fire crews were able to fight the rapidly spreading blaze.

Half a year later, an Ethiopian Airlines 787 caught fire at London Heathrow — nobody was on board.

Those were just two of several fires on board new 787 Dreamliners that eventually grounded the world’s entire fleet. 

And the cause? Lithium batteries. On the Japan Airlines aircraft, batteries of the auxiliary power unit (APU), which provides power while the engines are turned off, caught fire. In the case of Ethiopian Airlines, it was an emergency locator used when an aircraft goes missing. 

The battery of the Japan Airlines aircraft after the fire; Source: Wikipedia

Lithium batteries are everywhere. They are in your smartphone, your computer, your EV, and in various components used in modern aircraft. In recent years, the demand and supply for lithium batteries has surged rapidly, especially with the popularity of EVs. It’s even feared now that we might face lithium shortage in the rising need. 

But even though lithium batteries are so important for modern technology, they are extremely dangerous. They can quickly catch fire — and compared to other types of fires, lithium battery fires are self-sustaining. That means that in many cases it’s more effective to wait for the fire to go out by itself rather than trying to extinguish it. 

However, that doesn’t work when you’re in an airplane 36’000 ft above sea. That was the case in 2010, when UPS Airlines Flight 6 departed Dubai International with more than 80’000 lithium batteries on board — just half an hour later, the aircraft crashed after an unsuccessful attempt to make an emergency landing at Dubai. 

The crash of UPS Flight 6 highlighted how dangerous lithium batteries can be. Subsequently, airlines across the world prohibited bulk shipments of the batteries in passenger jets, fearing that another case could have even worse outcomes. 

The aircraft involved in the 2010 accident, N571UP, seen in 2008; Source: Wikipedia

Passengers are warned as well to take any devices or batteries containing lithium batteries with them to the cabin. Still, in the last five years, cases of lithium battery fires have surged by 42%. More dramatic were tests conducted by the FAA in 2015, when they filled a cargo container with 5’000 lithium batteries and simulated a single battery overheating — a fire started and the entire container exploded. 

The tests show how dramatic the scenes on board UPS Flight 6 were just five years prior. A single spark, a single battery overheating unleashed a chain reaction that rapidly spread the fire. Even special fire suppression systems designed for cargo aircraft (in this case a 747-400) didn’t help, and the fire steadily caused important systems to fail — to the point that recovery was impossible. 

In 2014, the UN banned lithium battery shipments on commercial passenger flights. Still, hundreds of millions of lithium batteries have to be carried by cargo aircraft every year as demand grows. And that also increases the risk of hazardous fires. 

UPS developed special fire-containment covers for cargo that could pose a risk, and it also ordered shipping containers that can withstand intense fires for up to four hours, increasing the chances of survival drastically. 

A typical lithium battery used in laptops; Source: Wikipedia

Mitigating the risks of lithium batteries-caused fires on cargo flights is very important — but the problems with the batteries also exist on passenger aircraft despite the strict bans in place. In early March, an A220 of Breeze Airways en route from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh had to make an emergency landing in Albuquerque after a passenger’s laptop caught fire in the cabin. 

Smoke filled the cabin and flight attendants acted quick to extinguish the fire. Only the owner of the laptop suffered injuries. 

But how did it happen in the first place? Thermal runaway. That is when the pressure and temperature in the battery cell rises rapidly, releasing flammable gases that start a fire. 

In February 2023, a United 737 had to make an emergency landing in San Diego after a battery pack went up in flames in the cabin just seconds after take-off. A month later, a lithium battery caught a fire in the overhead compartment of a Spirit Airlines aircraft, followed by a successful emergency landing. 

In all these cases, the risks are quantifiable; passengers and crew can quickly react to a fire in the cabin and put it out — but simply a damaged lithium battery in a passenger’s checked luggage can become a big problem. Air pressure is much less regulated in the cargo hold, further increasing the risk, and as noted above, fire suppression systems are useless for putting out fires caused by lithium batteries. 

However, all the above cases don’t mean lithium batteries are generally bad. They only become a danger if they are damaged, and in many cases external factors contribute to a lithium battery fire. Problematic are cheap knock-off power banks or external batteries, as their safety standards are often below average. 

That is why it’s important to…

1. Ensure that the lithium batteries you use are qualitative and licensed. 
2. Make sure that you follow airline guidelines and don’t travel with lithium batteries in your checked luggage.
3. Act as soon as you realize your phone or laptop battery is overheating. 
4. Disconnect your chargers from your devices once they are fully charged and use licensed chargers.
5. Never use lithium batteries that show signs of swelling, leaking, or venting gas. 
6. Also, don’t dispose of devices with lithium batteries in house garbage. 

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