The Air Line Pilots Association asked Tuesday that the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) place a ban on shipping lithium batteries on passenger or cargo planes. The call comes in response to a number of fires associated with the batteries that have broken out on planes in recent years, most recently on Aug. 14, on a mail plane about to land in Minneapolis. The Pilots Association says that the PHMSA has been too slow to act in this dangerous situation, but the Federal Aviation Administration sees no reason to ban the batteries. The more flammable non-rechargeable lithium batteries were banned in 2004, and the FAA maintains that with stricter regulations on the way, there's no reason the situation can't be kept under control.
See "Debate on lithium batteries reignites", Alan Levin, USA Today, August 25, 2009