Amid all the brouhaha over the long-awaited launch of the Transportation Security Administration’s REAL ID requirement at U.S. airports, you might have missed news of another important TSA rule that could affect your summer travels.
According to new guidance released by the agency back in February, all spare (i.e., uninstalled) portable chargers and power banks containing lithium-ion batteries are not allowed in checked luggage.
The reason behind the restriction: Lithium batteries can overheat and then start fires. That’s precisely what happened in South Korea shortly before the scheduled departure of an Air Busan flight in January, prompting an evacuation of the people on board and ultimately causing the plane to be destroyed.
Because of the safety risk, Federal Aviation Administration rules now ban portable power banks and chargers with lithium batteries from checked bags, though the devices are still allowed (with certain limitations) in carry-on bags.
Rules for Flying with Lithium Batteries in the U.S.
As the TSA guidance explains, “Flight crews are trained to recognize and respond to lithium battery fires in the cabin”—whereas there’s nobody in the plane’s cargo hold to put out a smoking suitcase that’s been checked.
Consequently, you should pack any spare power banks, cell phone battery-charging cases, rechargeable and non-rechargeable lithium batteries, external batteries for laptops, and other portable chargers in your carry-on only.
There are limits on the size of the lithium batteries you can fly with—up to 100 watt hours (Wh) apiece. Per the TSA, “These limits allow for nearly all types of lithium batteries used by the average person in their electronic devices.”
However, passengers traveling with, say, professional audio-visual equipment may also carry up to two spare larger lithium ion batteries of up to 160 Wh each, pending airline approval.
Personal electronic devices like cell phones and laptops have installed lithium batteries of significantly less than 100 Wh each, but those devices can overheat, too. Notify a crew member immediately if that starts happening.
How do you find your power bank’s watt hours? The battery’s Wh number should be marked somewhere on the item, according to the FAA. The information often appears in very tiny writing that might also be faint.
Some products measure capacity by milliamperes per hour (mAh) instead. In those cases, the limit should be around 43,000 mAh, according to CNN.
Safety Tips for Packing Lithium Batteries
The TSA advises packing spare lithium batteries so that the terminals don’t come into contact with other metals and thereby short circuit. That might mean, for example, keeping spare change out of the same compartment as your batteries. You can simply cover battery terminals with tape to prevent them from contacting metals.
It’s also important to ensure the battery isn’t damaged, which can make it more likely to ignite. You might want to swing by the website of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, too, in order to search for recent recalls of power banks and other electronics.
If you have any questions about what can and cannot pass through airport security, the TSA offers several ways to get answers, whether by FAQ page, the MyTSA mobile app, email, phone (call 866/289-9673), or text message (text “travel” to AskTSA [275-872]).
