Boeing Dreamliner: Lithium-Ion Batteries Deemed Safe to Transport While Dreamliner Still Remains Grounded

In yet another bizarre twist, the Associate Press reports that the in-question lithium-ion battery thought to be the reason for Boeing's Dreamliner fire three weeks ago have now been deemed safe to fly, as plane cargo.

What this essentially means is though the Dreamliner isn't safe to fly, the batteries that the plane is attached to can fly, but only if it isn't attached to the plane.

This regulation was published on Jan, 7, the same day as the Air Nippon Airways flight at Boston's Logan International Airport that took nearly an hour to put out completely.

"Pilots and safety advocates say the situation doesn't make sense. If the 787's battery system is too risky to allow the planes to fly, then it's too risky to ship the same batteries as cargo on airliners, they said, according to Associated Press.

"These incidents have raised the whole issue of lithium batteries and their use in aviation," said Jim Hall, a former National Transportation Safety Board chairman. "Any transport of lithium batteries on commercial aircraft for any purpose should be suspended until (an) NTSB investigation is complete and we know more about this entire issue," according to Associated Press.

Hall's comments are seconded by former US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, which most of us know for his emergency landing in the Hudson River a few years back.

"The potential for self-ignition, for uncontained fires, is huge," he said. The new regulations "need to be looked at very hard in the cold light of day, particularly with what has happened with the 787 batteries," according to Associated Press.

"The new rules allow the shipment of lithium ion batteries weighing as much as 77 pounds, but only if they are aircraft batteries. Shipments of other lithium ion batteries greater than 11 pounds are still prohibited (as previous legislation on the issue stated). The 787's two batteries weigh 63 pounds each. It's the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which weigh less and store more power than other batteries of a similar size," according to USA Today.

The rule was modified to aid the airlines in shipping replace batteries in a quick and affordable manner and the fastest way to ship batteries is on passenger planes.

"The International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency that sets global aviation standards, adopted the aircraft battery cargo exemption in October 2011, and it went into effect Jan. 1. The organization's standards normally aren't binding. But a provision inserted into U.S. law at the behest of the battery industry and their shippers says the rules can't be stricter than the U.N. agency's standards," stated by USA Today.

The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating what caused the battery fire in Boston, on Jan.6., while Japanese officials are conducting their own fact-finding expedition to determine what caused the emergency landing of Air Nippon Airways' Dreamliner, in Japan, on Jan. 16.

Since these two incidents all Dreamliners have been grounded until further notice.