VIDEO: The president of the largest flight attendant union wants the FAA to ban e-cigarettes from planes because their batteries could be a fire hazard.
FAA data from 1991 through this August shows at least 48 e-cigarette related smoke or fire incidents at airports or on planes. That’s more incidents than laptops and tablets, cellphones, battery chargers or spare batteries.
A FAA test video shows why lithium ion batteries have been banned in check luggage. If a battery fails and enters what’s called thermal runway, it can burn so hot the plane’s fire suppression system can’t put it out.
A lithium ion battery fire on a plane can be catastrophic.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said flight attendants have become firefighters on planes, and the FAA needs to do more.