After safety concerns about Samsung Galaxy Note 7s catching on fire led to the gadgets being banned on flights a couple of years ago, Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry has now partially banned another lithium-based electronic gadget that could potentially pose a fire hazard: power banks.
The ban came into effect on March 9 after the Aviation Directorate General at the Transportation Ministry issued a circular describing the new regulation, which all Indonesian airlines are required to follow. Under the new rules, portable cellphone/electronic device chargers with a capacity exceeding 20,000 mAh, 100 watts per hour, or 5 volts are now banned on flights. In addition, one passenger can have no more than two power banks on their person regardless of their capacities.
“The regulation was introduced in accordance to the standardization of flight safety by the Transportation Ministry,” said Ikhsan Rosan, general manager at Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Under the regulation, power banks are also only allowed on carry-ons and are prohibited in checked in baggage. During flights, they are not allowed to be used to charge mobile phones or other electronic devices.
According to reports, the Transportation Ministry issued the circular as a preventive measure following an incident in which a power bank caught on fire in the overhead compartment bin of a China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai on Feb. 25, video of which has gone viral worldwide.
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