Southwest requires chargers to be seen over fireplace danger : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7401x4781+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8d%2F6e%2F5b5d76524bbdb4e03145c962bdac%2Fgettyimages-1346028250.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7401x4781+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8d%2F6e%2F5b5d76524bbdb4e03145c962bdac%2Fgettyimages-1346028250.jpg" class="img" alt="Southwest Airlines planes are seen at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in 2021. The airline is requiring using portable chargers in-flight to make them visible to the crew." fetchpriority="high"/> Southwest Airways planes are seen at Baltimore Washington Worldwide Thurgood Marshall Airport in 2021. The airline is requiring passengers utilizing moveable chargers in-flight to make them seen to the crew. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photos North America cover caption

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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photos North America Passengers flying on Southwest Airways will quickly be required to maintain battery packs and different moveable charging units seen in the event that they're utilizing them throughout a flight.

The airline introduced in an emailed assertion on Wednesday that this "first-in-industry" coverage will take impact on Might 28. It's supposed as a security measure that may enable crew members to reply extra shortly to potential fires.

"Utilizing moveable charging units whereas saved in a bag or overhead bin will not be permitted," Southwest mentioned in a press release. "Nothing is extra vital to Southwest than the Security of its Clients and Workers."

Lithium-ion batteries are generally present in a wide range of fashionable devices, such smartphones and medical units, however they'll sometimes overheat and catch fireplace.

In response to information collected by the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been no less than 22 incidents associated to air journey this yr involving lithium batteries, a few of which have resulted in fires.

At the moment, the FAA prohibits passengers from carrying spare lithium-ion batteries, together with energy banks, of their checked baggage. However Southwest's new coverage goes even additional by requiring passengers to take away this stuff from their carry-on baggage and hold them seen to the crew throughout flight if they're in use.

"When a conveyable charger/energy financial institution is used throughout a flight, it have to be out of any baggage and stay in plain sight," a web page on Southwest's web site reads. "Don't cost units within the overhead bin."

As well as, the governments of South Korea and Hong Kong in addition to some airways in China, Thailand, Malaysia and different nations have lately carried out new restrictions on using moveable energy banks throughout flights, Reuters reported.

South Korean investigators say {that a} fireplace, which engulfed an Air Busan aircraft in January and prompted the evacuation of passengers and crew, was doubtless began by a conveyable energy financial institution, based on the BBC.