Air passengers can no longer board flights with selected MacBook Pro Laptops in the United States due to a recent ban by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The reason, according to the regulator was that some of the laptops had batteries that had safety issues and were recalled because they posed a fire risk. These affected batteries were sold in the laptops between September 2015 and February 2017.
While addressing journalists, the U.S. Airline Regulator said that it became aware of the recalled batteries used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops and it alerted U.S. airlines about it so that safety measures could be put in place. So far, the ban has been implemented by four airlines with cargo operations under the auspices of Total Cargo Expertise (TCE).
This action is in line with the 2016 safety instructions for goods with recalled batteries. The instructions disallow goods that have been recalled to be taken into flights as cargo or carry-on baggage by passengers.
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The MacBook Pro isn’t the first consumer tech device to be barred from airlines. In 2016, Samsung Electronics Co.’s Note 7 was banned from U.S. flights after the handset’s battery exploded in multiple incidents.
Although there have been repeated incidents of phones, laptops and other devices overheating and catching fire in passenger compartments of planes, there hasn’t ever been a fire breakout because of it. The flames are said to be extinguished with water by the flight attendants who are trained on how to address such issues. The U.S aviation is only trying to be more conscious of the health risks these recalled devices poses hence the stricter rules.
It is imperative to note that the U.S. aviation regulations prohibit carrying recalled batteries on flights unless they’ve been replaced or stored in special packaging that inhibits fire.
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