Laptop batteries suspect in plane crash

AIRLINE investigators are getting concerned about the onboard fire hazard of exploding laptop batteries.

The US National Transportation Safety Board is looking a strong possibility that an on board fire caused by an exploding laptop battery might have downed a cargo plane on February 8, at at Philadelphia International Airport.

Investigators found several computer laptop batteries were on board the plane, and that in some cases portions of the laptop batteries had burned.

There have been a number of similar incidents where lithium batteries have caught fire aboard airplanes, it appears.

Two months ago a spare laptop battery packed in a bag stored in an overhead bin started emitting smoke. Fortunately the plane had not taken off yet. Shipments of lithium batteries have ignited in 1999 and in 2004, mostly on cargo planes.

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