Soon You May Face Curbs On Carrying Power Banks On Your Flights

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation may soon announce curbs on carrying power banks in an aeroplane, in the wake of a recent incident on a Dimapur-bound flight, reports The Times of India.

On Sunday, a passenger saw their power bank catching fire in a Dimapur-bound IndiGo flight, just when the aeroplane was taxiing at the Delhi airport. Directorate General of Civil Aviation is reportedly taking up the issue.

The report suggests the regulator is taking technical inputs on the issue and may soon come up with curbs on carrying power banks on an aeroplane.

Curbs on carrying a power bank on a flight are not a novel idea and exist across several airlines across the world. Some of them require the power bank to be kept on the back pocket or in a bag under the seat in front, and not in overhead bins.

From Oct. 1, Emirates Airlines prohibited the use of any power bank on the flight. While it does allow a passenger to carry one power bank under 100 watt-hours, they cannot use the power bank to charge the power bank or a device in the aircraft cabin.

Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines prohibited flyers from charging their power banks from onboard USB ports.

There has been increased scrutiny on power banks in aircraft in the wake of recent incidents, such as the Dimapur flight. Last week, an Air China flight from China to South Korea had to be diverted to Shanghai after a lithium battery fire.

The major hazard around power banks in an aeroplane is the risk of a fire explosion caused by a process called thermal runaway in its lithium-ion battery. In a contained environment of an aircraft, such an incident may pose significant danger.

Under current regulations, the DGCA allows power banks with a capacity of up to 100 watt-hours, which, for most power banks, translates to a capacity of 27,000 mAh.