The investigation into a UPS plane crash that killed two pilots in Dubai on Sept. 3 turned last week to what the cargo plane may have carried.
The cargo, it has been reported, included electronic equipment, which likely included lithium batteries, though UPS would not comment on what the plane was transporting. The batteries, in more than 40 incidents recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration between 1991 and Aug. 3, 2010, have smoked, heated up or caused fires.
In January, the federal government proposed tighter regulations for transporting the batteries commonly used in laptop computers and cell phones. UPS opposes the potential changes, except to bring the U.S. into compliance with international standards.
The rules proposed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration would ensure batteries are packaged to reduce the possibility of damage. They also would require the batteries be noted as hazardous material and require transport documentation with small lithium batteries, including where on a plane they would be located. Training would be mandated for shipping employees who prepare lithium batteries for transportation. No date has been set for when those rules could be put in place.
The agency said the "changes are intended to enhance safety by ensuring that all lithium batteries are designed to withstand normal transportation conditions" and would "reduce the possibility of damage that could lead to a catastrophic incident."
UPS follows the rules as they are, spokesman Norman Black said, and does not intend to change its practices until new rules are in place. While lithium batteries were suspected as the cause of a February 2006 fire on a UPS plane that landed in Philadelphia, no cause was ever determined. UPS made no changes to its processes or requirements after that incident.
Black said UPS' main concern about the proposed rules is the impact they would have on international commerce. In response to the proposal, UPS said seven of the company’s 1.8 million customers are responsible for sending more than 40 million packages of lithium batteries a year, or more than 156,000 packages each day.
"There are millions of those batteries in the air right now today moving safely," Black said. "They risk slowing down commerce. The things are so ubiquitous now."
FedEx, which has seen some fires caused by lithium batteries, requires lithium battery shippers to register with and be approved by FedEx shipping, spokeswoman Sally Davenport said. It also has enhanced its packaging requirements and has fire suppression systems on some of its planes.
But Davenport said the most pressing need is enforcement of the existing rules.
"The need to carry these items is only going to grow," she said. "It is an issue that needs to be addressed, no question about that."
Because the batteries are not currently classified as hazardous, not all incidents involving them must be reported.
The batteries have been a major issue for pilots for years, said Mark Rogers, director of the Dangerous Goods Programs for the Air Line Pilots Association International.
While the batteries have been known to cause fires on aircraft in some instances, Rogers said pilots may never know whether their cargo contains lithium batteries because there are currently no labeling requirements for them.
"This was a potentially live demonstration of what we've been saying for a long time," Rogers said of the possibility that lithium batteries caught fire on the UPS flight, contributing to the crash.
No cause for the crash has been determined, though the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates said in a Sept. 23 statement that the investigation is focusing on the cargo "and the associated risks," and that an alarm warned of fire on the main deck and there was evidence of thick smoke in the cockpit.
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