O


n Sept. 3, 2010, a UPS 747-cargo jet caught fire and crashed at a military base 10 miles from Dubai International Airport, killing both pilots. The following year another UPS


flight caught fire over South Korea and crashed, also killing the flight crew. The available evidence led investigators to one


conclusion—both flights carried thousands of lithi- um-ion rechargeable batteries in their cargo holds. A Federal Aviation Administration report released that same year concluded, “lithium-ion cells are flammable and capable of self-ignition when a bat- tery short circuits, overheats or is defective.” According to news reports, a series of subse- quent battery fires in Boeing 787s caused the FAA


36 School Transportation News • JULY 2022


to ground an entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2013 until answers could be found. Even pilots were calling for tougher rules on transporting the batteries.


Then in 2015, a smoking lithium-ion battery in a


credit card reader aboard a passenger flight forced an emergency landing. A year later the FAA issued a safety alert warning for airlines that transporting lithium batteries carried a “catastrophic risk of hull loss.” It further stated that lithium-ion battery fires can cause “catastrophic explosions” that fire sup- pression systems are incapable of preventing.” The FAA requested that all airlines revisit their


lithium-ion battery safety protocols. A United Nations panel went a step further and classified


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