Plastic bags for batteries? Korea's airport rule sparks debate

Airport security officers in Korea may soon add another essential item to their toolkit alongside hand-held metal detectors and inspection gloves: plastic bags. Since last month, passengers are required to carry their batteries in bags during flights to by shield the terminals from contact with other items, as part of measures to prevent potential fires from batteries without short-circuit protection. For those who forget to do so, screeners at security checks will provide passengers with plastic bags, according to guidelines the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport issued recently to airport authorities. This measure followed a blaze aboard an Air Busan flight in January. It is believed a battery stored in an overhead bin ignited just before takeoff at Gimhae International Airport, forcing the emergency evacuation of all 176 passengers and crew. The ministry’s directive quickly drew criticism, with the most pressing question: Are plastic bags truly effective in preventing battery fires? “Handing out plastic bags is completely pointless,” Lee Yong-kang, a professor of aviation security at Hanseo University, told The Korea Times. “Unlike the removable batteries in old cellphones, today’s power banks are sealed units, which makes the risk of fires from external short circuits very low,” he said.<br/>