Electronic what???? Yup, cigarettes, and I had never heard of them until today. Perhaps you had.Well you've probably heard about the FedEx MD-11 incident at Minneapolis-St Paul on 14 August. After landing the crew had a lower forward cargo fire warning. They discharged the halon bottles and called the firefighters who eventually found a cargo container on fire - I mean with actual flames coming out of it. They used about 200gal of water to extinguish it.
What they found inside was a shipment of about 1,000 of the
aforementioned e-cigarettes which are powered by lithium batteries and
use liquid tobacco to provide the desired kick allegedly without being
a fire hazard. The promoters suggest they can be legally used in
buildings where smoking is banned and in aircraft.
They work like this:
And if they catch fire they look like this:
And they leave FedEx luggage containers looking like this:
Now imagine if this situation had arisen in-flight with no firefighters to get involved. Probably the halon system would have handled it. Probably.
As it turns out, my colleague Barbara Cockburn is in fact familiar with e-cigarettes. I've got no reason to believe the ones being discussed here are the same make as the ones in the MD-11.
They work like this:
And if they catch fire they look like this:
And they leave FedEx luggage containers looking like this:
Now imagine if this situation had arisen in-flight with no firefighters to get involved. Probably the halon system would have handled it. Probably.
As it turns out, my colleague Barbara Cockburn is in fact familiar with e-cigarettes. I've got no reason to believe the ones being discussed here are the same make as the ones in the MD-11.
on August 27, 2009 10:14 AM | Reply
just for info Ryanair sell elctric cigarettes on their flights
on August 27, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply
now i knew the about Electronic cigarettes
its very interesting
on August 27, 2009 9:58 PM | Reply
I'm gutted to learn you haven't been reading every blessed word on my blog. We tackled this timely issue months ago.
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2009/04/blow-some-faux-with-the-electr.html
on August 28, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply
Sorry, Mary who? ;-)
on September 1, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply
Was the shipment properly declared as hazardous material?? Are Lithium batteries hazardous material?
on September 2, 2009 8:13 AM | Reply
I think its a very interesting article, lithium batteries are cosidered as dangerous goods and once they are transported by air, special arrangements should be made to avoid accidents such this one..
and recently U.S issued new law concerning lithium battery air trnsport.
on September 6, 2009 2:06 AM | Reply
I didn't know an e-cigarette could do that.