Posted on 10/29/2010 7:50:21 PM PDT by Shermy
WASHINGTON (AP), LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB Fox 41) -- Safety advocates have warned for more than a decade that someday an air shipment of lithium batteries like those used in cameras, cell phones and countless other products would catch fire, causing a plane to crash and people to die.
That day may have arrived last month.
A United Parcel Service cargo plane with a fire raging on board, and carrying a large quantity of lithium batteries, crashed near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 3, killing both pilots. 48-year-old Captain Doug Lampe from Louisville and 38-year-old First Officer Matthew Bell from Sanford, Florida were killed when Flight 6 crashed.
The cause of the accident isn't likely to be determined for months, but investigators suspect the batteries were either the source of the fire or contributed to its severity. The Federal Aviation Administration was concerned enough by the accident to warn air carriers about risks posed by lithium battery shipments.
UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot tellls Fox 41 News, "UPS is in favor of better regulation of lithium battery shipments. We believe the best way to do this is by harmonizing proposed US DOT regulations with existing United Nations rules. We also believe the proposed regulations should be in line with standing technical instructions developed by the International Air Transport Association."
Mangeot also says UPS's position is that it is too soon to speculate about the cause of the Dubai crash: "The official investigation must be allowed to reach its scientifically determined conclusions, and that will take time."
The accident has given new urgency to a high-stakes lobbying struggle under way in Washington. Pilot unions and safety advocates are urging the government to treat air shipments of lithium batteries as hazardous materials. But rules proposed by the Obama administration are opposed by many of the nation's top retailers, electronics manufacturers, battery makers and cargo airlines.
They say the rules would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in added packaging, paperwork and training for employees. The rechargeable battery industry alone says the rules would cost more than $1 billion in the first year.
The makers of medical devices say the rules might mean delays in getting equipment to patients, and one electronics lobbyist even portrayed the proposal as a holiday Grinch that could drive up the cost of gift shipments.
This story is about the UPS Boeing that crashed in Dubai..almost 60 days ago, not the recent terror threat.
Maybe they will rethink the “lithium battery” thingy..
No, no terrorism anywhere! Just lithium batteries! Nothing to see here, just move along. Be seeing you!
BUMP.
I used to construct lithium battery packs and they DO go up real good.
Is UPS just having a real bad rash of luck, or what?
That was UPS’s one and only fatal aircraft incident...
first and only...
What has UPS done to deserve this recent run of bad luck?
And to think we are going to have electric cars with these batteries that are hundred times the size of camera batteries. That we make a heck of a racket when they explode.
They are non Muslims flying to Muslim countries. To many Muslims, that is reason enough to murder you.
Looks like THAT crash was the “test”, and this one was the real thing. If so thanks to God lives were spared this time.
....or it could have been a terrorist attack, as we found out today.
American pilots? A successful American company?
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