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More Reasons For Airlines To Ban Laptops

September 22nd, 2006

Here in the UK we have just seen a slight relaxation of the rules banning…well, just about anything from the cabin of an aeroplane. However, as quickly as we have been granted the right to carry eye shadow onto a plane, airlines are banning us from taking a laptop onboard.

Those who have been following the whole ‘overheating laptop battery’ saga will be aware that Virgin Atlantic have banned Dell and Apple laptops from the cabin as a result of the massive recall of Sony batteries recently.

“As a result of the current problems being experienced by the Apple and Dell Corporations with some of the batteries fitted to some of their laptops, as a safety precaution and with immediate effect, customers wanting to use an Apple or Dell laptop on board can only do so if the battery is removed. Any removed or spare batteries must be individually wrapped/protected and placed in your Carry On Baggage. This is limited to two batteries per passenger.”

But before you non Apple or Dell owners start to snigger, here’s another cautionary tale. A Thinkpad user in LA recently had passengers scattering when his PC burst into flames at a departure lounge just before he boarded a flight to London. Lenovo, makers of the Thinkpad range since they were sold by IBM, dispatched a team of investigators to Los Angeles within 12 hours of the incident, and confirmed that the laptop was a ThinkPad T43. At this stage there is no news about whether the battery involved was a Sony, but it is known that Lenovo use both Sony and Sanyo batteries.

So, expect Virgin to add Lenovo to their list of banned latops. In fact expect it to ban ALL laptops before much longer.

Entry Filed under: Misc / Humour