The Federal Aviation Administration recently announced penalties against multiple shippers for improperly packaging and declaring lithium-ion batteries transported by air, including incidents where packages caught fire during handling.
Lithium-ion batteries are classified as Class 9 dangerous goods due to their potential to overheat or ignite if damaged, short-circuited, or incorrectly packaged. Regulators found that several air shipments were undeclared, mislabeled, and lacked proper packaging and documentation, resulting in fines exceeding $300,000 in total.
In two separate cases, personnel at the sorting facility discovered overheated and burning battery packages, prompting emergency response actions. None of the shipments met hazardous materials regulations governing classification, marking, or labeling required to prevent sparks or heat transfer.
The incidents reinforce ongoing warnings from the aviation industry: as lithium batteries become more common in commerce, strict adherence to packaging, testing, and declaration standards is essential to ensure the safety of transport workers, aircraft, and the public.