Why airlines are warning over lithium-ion batteries
Ben Wodecki is used to travelling the globe and is used to seeing airline crew at work.
But flying into Las Vegas in June, the technology journalist saw something he'd never seen before, as worried looking flight crew dashed to the rear of the plane. "There was a glint of fear. They were dour. This was something more than someone being ill. It was something that affected them."
As smoke, then distressed passengers emerged from the rear of the plane, it because clear what had happened. A passenger had been using a battery pack during the flight, and it had overheated before bursting into flames with a seat catching fire.
Flight crew dropped the device into a container of water, Wodecki says. The plane then landed "fast and aggressively" at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, he explains, where it was met by fire crews on the runway.
It was a dramatic end to a routine flight – and it illustrates why flyers are hearing more frequent and more insistent warnings about the dangers of bringing battery powered devices and specifically lithium-ion batteries on flights.
These include warnings about trying to retrieve devices that slip into seat and pleas not to put lithium-ion devices in checked luggage.
According to Jonathan Nicholson at the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), for the airline industry, lithium-ion batteries are "if not number one, within the top three risks for a good few years now".
A US recent study showed, external the industry was affected by two lithium-ion battery related incidents a week worldwide, he adds. Those incidents could range from passengers belatedly realising they'd left a device in checked baggage, to devices smoking or catching fire in airport baggage halls, or on flights.
But the results can be far more extreme. In January 2025 an Air Busan plane was destroyed on the tarmac in Gimhae Airport in South Korea, with investigators concluding a power bank battery pack left in an overhead luggage compartment was the culprit.
This prompted the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch a global campaign, external to encourage passengers to "Travel Smart with Lithium Batteries".
There is nothing about flying that makes lithium-ion technology more dangerous, explains Nicholson. Rather, he said "it's a lot harder to deal with at 32,000 feet in an aircraft cabin".
Nicholson said the prevalence of lithium-ion related incidents was down to "more people, more flights, more devices".
The US Federal Aviation Administration says that battery safety is a priority. Its data "continues to show an increase in confirmed incidents", with 51 verified incidents for the year to July 15, external.
Pierre Kubiak, a principal engineer specialising in battery technology at the UK's National Physical Laboratory, adds that while cell phones, power banks, tablets and laptops are the most obvious portable devices people bring on planes, smart watches, smart glasses and vapes were increasingly common.
"The lithium by itself doesn't burn, it's more all the organic material and plastic," he explains. "The point is that it gets very, very hot, very fast. I mean, more than 700 to 1000 degrees super fast."
The dangers of lithium-ion batteries really broke into the public consciousness following a series of phone-related fires about a decade ago.
Kubiak says that this had been down to flawed designs, and that manufacturers had since addressed concerns. South Korea is a leader in this space he adds.
But it was hard to control the proliferation of cheaply produced battery packs from East Asia, as well as vapes and other powered devices, with questionable quality controls. "Price is everything," he says. Moreover, he adds, passengers often contribute to the problem by using unsuitable cables and not caring for devices.
This leaves airlines with little option but to reiterate their warnings and stick with tried and tested methods of ensuring staff are drilled to quickly deal with incidents when they occur.
The CAA's Nicholson says "the most important thing is to bung it in water and cool it down," though some airlines did use specialised containment devices. But that is why it is essential that devices are kept in the cabin, not in overhead compartments, and definitely not in the hold.
Nicholson added that customers seemed to bear the warnings and restrictions well. The biggest problem is simply that they are often unaware of just how many devices rely on lithium-ion battery technology.
There are no economic alternatives to lithium-ion technology at present, Kubiak adds. The tech and personal device industries are heavily invested in the technology.
One alternative is sodium-ion batteries, but the technology is currently double the cost of lithium devices for consumers, Kubiak says. "It's not just a technical solution. It's also a societal solution that we have to take."
He suggested there should be more of a focus on safeguarding around the existing technology. "We don't necessarily want to have battery banks banned from every plane."
Reporting from BBC News contributed to this story.
