UKC

Bit of a strange question maybe.

I have a torch, slightly bigger than a 2xAA Maglite of 'hefty' construction, with a rechargeable lithium battery. Options when flying are:

Hand baggage and lose it at the security check because I could hit someone with it.
Hold baggage and lose it because it has a lithium cell and might set the plane on fire.

Anyone know which is the best option?

Ta.

In reply to Ridge:

Leave it at home and take a regular torch that takes AA's for peace of mind.

In reply to Ridge:

Fork handles.

In reply to Ridge:

The responsible option would be to not pack it in your hold luggage. The regulations regarding the carriage of lithium cells came about after the loss of an actual aircraft due to a cargo fire caused by lithium batteries.

In reply to Ridge:

If it's physically smaller than a laptop battery, it would be hard to take exception to it

In reply to Ridge:

Well Iv'e never had a problem with them in hand luggage, but I always remove batteries where possible and tape over the terminals. For example I've just come back from another trip to South Russia via Moscow, Amsterdam and Newcastle with 2 head torches, 1 hand torch, 1 GPS, 2 FM transceivers, 2 mic's and my head set, no questions asked. I figure I'm better able to demonstrate things are safe when there available to look at. There again I might just have that honest face!

In reply to tehmarks:

Are you referring to MH370 ? That was the latest theory, nothing conclusive though.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

More likely UPS no.6 - a pallet of Li batteries was blamed. Plus there there have been a few incidents where an installed aux power Li battery packs in Dreamliners caused fires

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

UPS Flight 6 is indeed what I was referring to, although I'm reasonably sure there have been sporadic incidents of lithium battery fires since, none catastrophic that I'm aware of. Most recently just a few days ago an e-cigarette caught fire on a Wizzair flight, and there are occasional reports of things like laptops catching fire in the cabin. Being in the cabin they're much easier to deal with than in the inaccessible hold.

I wouldn't count the 787 battery fires in the same category as they're an integral part of the aircraft rather than cargo.

In reply to tehmarks:
Not an aircraft, but a good video of the dangers of misused lithium ion batteries - an e-cig battery exploding in someone's pocket, captured on CCTV in a Leeds shopping centre:

youtube.com/watch?v=7_wWIrgw7_M&