Posted on 04/03/2011 4:40:48 PM PDT by decimon
WASHINGTON – The cargo of a United Parcel Service plane that caught fire and crashed last year included lithium batteries that should have been declared as hazardous cargo, but weren't, according to an accident report released Sunday by the Dubai government's civil aviation authority.
The report also paints a harrowing picture of two pilots struggling desperately to land their plane while running low on emergency oxygen and fighting smoke so thick they couldn't see their flight instruments or change radio frequencies.
The Boeing 747-400 crashed near the Dubai airport on Sept. 3 as the flight's first officer attempted an emergency landing. Both pilots were killed.
The report, which doesn't identify the cause of the fire, is expected to raise questions about shipments of the batteries. The batteries can short-circuit and cause fires that burn hot enough to melt an airplane.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yuckers, and bummer for the crew and their families. Hopefully we all learn a lesson from this.
I have a “junk box” where I throw odds and ends. Including such things as packages of steel wool, nine volt batteries, etc.
One night I smell something... burning? I sniff around and a 9 volt batteries shorted itself out against the steel wool. The steel wool was burning so hot I had to throw it in the front yard and practically bury it to put it out. It was fierce.
Had I been asleep or out, my house would have burned down.
Lithium battery powered cars connected to a charging unit in your garage shouldn’t be any cause for concern.....Nahhh
I’ll take two of those volts from the dolt.
Thanks, that's good info. Not something I would expect.
Crazy. Tragic. I wonder if they’ll charge the person whose batteries caused the fire, causing the crash, killing the pilots.
Truck sized lithium batteries?
I have a couple crates of ammo, reloading supplies and a few cans of black powder.
My girlfriend tells me. "Of course your house will be there. If your house caught on fire it would be all over the news."
I slipped a 9 volt battery into my front pocket one time. Then my leg started burning like hell. Turns out a penny was making the connection and it heated up QUICK.
Most all batteries are required to be properly packaged so they can’t short out. They are also required to be declared as hazardous materials or goods when being shipped.
Had the same thing happen while driving down the road once. About wrecked the car.
I have quite a few of the CR2 type of LED flashlights that I have collected over the years, my Favorite is the Nitecore, something like 220 lumens on one 3volt battery.
And I have Surefires that also use the same battery, often I have use these lights in -40 temps in Alaska, and the battery performs.
But what is truly amazing is that I bought a couple of boxes of these lithium batteries from Surefire at $2 each 10 years ago, I still have quite a few left and they are still fully charged. Best battery overall for long term storage and cold weather usage, BUT being lithium its does cost more in shipping.
Just don't take them anywhere they might be involved in kinetic/combustion event.
I too have a bunch of those CR2 batteries. I also have some rechargeable ones.
I always throw old batteries in the trash and then when I burn the trash in a burn barrel, they often explode but it is usually just a pop and the steel mesh covering it always contains it. That is until I did the same with some CR2’s.
They exploded about like a cherry bomb and ripped right through the mesh. For the first time, I will have to take the warnings seriously.
If I had a dollar for every time MY leg started burning like hell.....
“Crazy. Tragic. I wonder if they’ll charge the person whose batteries caused the fire, causing the crash, killing the pilots.”
Wouldn’t be right... Lithium Ion batteries are shipped every day, By the millions.
9v battery & 000 steel wool is an old Boy Scout trick for starting fires.
Also the old flash cubes (are they even around anymore) & 000 steel wool. The bulbs flash is hot enough to light the steel wool.
Thanks, that's good info. Not something I would expect.
Fires have been started with steel wool and batteries since Boy Scouts have been camping!
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