As the fervor surrounding the potentially deadly risks of consuming e-cigarettes and other vape products subsides somewhat, another e-cig scare is entering the spotlight. This time, however, the concern isn’t what people are inhaling, but the device itself. Cheap, poorly-made vape pens and e-cigs typically use cheap, poorly-made lithium-ion batteries. And those batteries have a knack for catching on fire. Some have even blown up in people’s faces. That’s why the president of the Association of Flight Attendants wants the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ban e-cigarettes from planes entirely.
The FAA already bans travelers from putting portable devices with lithium-ion batteries in their checked luggage. But travelers can still carry them in their carry-on bags and personal items. Flight attendants want that rule to change. They say frequent battery-sparked fires are turning them into emergency firefighters. And they’re worried that the next fire could be catastrophic.
The FAA requires flight attendants to receive firefighting training so they can handle battery fires on a flight. Typically, dealing with a fire means tossing a smoking or flaming device into a fire-retardant bag. In the luggage hold, however, planes’ fire extinguishing systems aren’t strong enough to put out the intense heat from a flaming lithium-ion battery. “How about we just not have these e-cigarettes on the plane at all,” Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson told CBS News.
Because of the wide variety of battery issues that can occur, it is important that airlines have the flexibility to assess and address the risks involved in each individual situation,” an FAA spokesperson told.
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