Subscriber A.B. Alexander (Newport Beach, CA)
wrote us, "Last year I had all my batteries taken out of
my checked bag by the TSA without a note. This year,
all airlines say that transporting lithium ion batteries is
forbidden. But more and more divers are taking their
cameras and lights with them on dive trips. How do you
suggest this be handled? Without batteries, no pictures
can be taken."
Jeff Janak (Dallas, TX) got his lithium batteries taken
out of his checked baggage for an American Airlines
flight from Cozumel back home. "Its new checked
bag requirements say spare lithium batteries must be
removed from checked or gate-checked baggage and
carried onboard." Like Alexander, he too never got his
batteries back.
It has been in the Department of Transportation's
rule books since 2008 that rechargable lithium ion batteries
commonly used by divers to power their camera
gear are prohibited from checked luggage. But Joseph
Tepper, associate editor of DivePhotoGuide.com, says
you can still store them in your carry-ons. "The reason is simple: If a fire does occur (albeit unlikely), flight attendants
will be able to see it and react. This wouldn't be
the case if the fire occurred in your checked bags in the
airplane's hold."
You can have lithium ion batteries installed in equipment
(ie. laptop, cell phone) packed in either carry-on
or checked luggage. However, spare batteries must be
kept in your carry-on--they will likely be found and
removed from checked luggage. Tepper says he keeps
all his lithium batteries in his carry-on photo backpack
to avoid the risk that security will nab them. "Also, once
you arrive on location, they are more easily accessed and
can be charged right away." If there's not enough space
to keep both batteries and their charges in your carry-on,
move the chargers to your checked luggage.
Also keep in mind that there's a limit to how many
lithium ion batteries you can bring on board, depending
on their size. For the "small" ones that most cameras
use, you can carry on as many as you wish. But for
"large" lithium ion batteries (100-160 watt hours), there
is a limit of just two spares in most cases, and some airlines
require prior approval. Consult your battery user's
guide for the watt hours information, and for more specific
baggage rules, check your airline's policy page.