
Amazon Fined for Shipping Lithium Batteries on Passenger Planes - JboyOzette
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-fine-batteries-plane
======
smoyer
If Amazon pays a shipper to deliver product to its customers (or move them
between warehouses) isn't it the shipper's responsibility to make sure they're
shipped via an approved (legal) method? I guess Amazon would be responsible
for disclosing the contents but this articles tells us almost nothing.

~~~
Anechoic
IATA lithium-ion battery shipping rules make it pretty clear that packages
containing Li-on batteries have to be clearly identified using warning labels.
There are also limits to number of battery packs and Ah capacities in
packages. If you've ordered anything with a Li-on battery in the last couple
of years that was shipped by air, it should have had a warning label on it
that looks like
[https://uline-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/images/...](https://uline-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/images/S/S15000/S-14859.jpg?$Medium$&iccEmbed=1&icc=AdobeRGB)

That is the responsibility of the packer.

edit: just noticed that the article mentioned lithium batteries rather than
li-on batteries, but the rules are similar. See
[http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-
bat...](http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-
guidance-document-2016-en.pdf) for more info.

~~~
heartbreak
Why doesn't my iPhone 7 box have this sticker? It flew via UPS, does that make
any difference? If I recall correctly a UPS flight crashed due to a battery
fire a few years ago.

~~~
duskwuff
Only "raw" batteries are restricted. Once they're inside a finished electronic
product, they're often fine. (Go figure.)

~~~
dmd
This is why so many external USB battery packs for phones and the like have a
flashlight built in - it's a legal loophole that lets the manufacturer pretend
it's a flashlight, and not a "raw" battery.

~~~
mandlar
Interesting. Although I actually find it useful that they include the
flashlight. Win/win.

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tuna-piano
A while back I wanted to buy an air soft gun on Amazon. I tried buying one,
but Amazon gave a note that they couldn't deliver air soft guns to my state.

So, I added 10 different air soft guns to my cart, went to the checkout step,
and something like 3-4 of them did not get marked as illegal.

Not sure if their item flagging has improved since then, but keeping track of
all the special considerations of their products must be tough.

~~~
0xfeba
The states that have legislated airsoft and BB guns as "firearms" or other
weapons, tend to not joke around if they find out people own them and they are
"unregistered".

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foobarcrunch
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6)

Also, the UPS cargo 747-44AF/SCD had inadequate cockpit/cargo air-handling
separation, fire suppression, cargo-cockpit/airframe firewalling, lacked EVAS,
isolated oxygen supplies and didn't have per-cargo-container fire detection
and suppression.

~~~
waterhouse
Ah, there was an event that triggered a regulation? I was going to say that
someone must have finally read this comic:
[https://xkcd.com/651/](https://xkcd.com/651/)

Your link says: "In October 2010, the FAA issued a Safety Alert for Operators
highlighting the fact that the cargo on board Flight 6 contained a large
quantity of lithium type batteries. The FAA issued a restriction on the
carrying of lithium batteries in bulk on passenger flights."

But the comic seems to have come out on Oct 19 2009, so I guess the comic was
prescient.

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yAnonymous
>These dangerous goods include lithium batteries, which are banned from being
transported as mail or cargo on a passenger aircraft unless they are installed
in or packed with equipment

...so transporting a Galaxy Note 7 is fine.

~~~
asdgasfg
Yes, but they ask that you follow certain restrictions[0].

[0]
[https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisor...](https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_20168141473868333062.html)

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gambiting
"These dangerous goods include lithium batteries, which are banned from being
transported as mail or cargo on a passenger aircraft unless they are installed
in or packed with equipment"

So a battery in a padded packaging is not ok, but if it's inside a laptop,
then suddenly it's all good. Mind boggling.

