See details below... It basically means that you can bring one battery ON your camera (or laptop, or audio device, etc.), and two spares in your carry-on. That's it! And all batteries need to be in (separate) plastic bags, so they do not make contact with metals, like a coin, which could start a fire. Furthermore, and perhaps most notable, spare lithium batteries (which is basically all batteries in portable devices, cameras, DATs, iPods, cellphones) CANNOT be in checked baggage. See CNN email below, sent to field cameramen and sound techs.
Subject: Jan 1 - New security rules for batteries on planes!
New security rules for batteries on planes – especially Important for Camera Crews and Field Producers
New rules from the Transportation and Security Administration that take effect on January 1 ban travelers from carrying loose lithium batteries in checked baggage. Passengers are allowed to pack two spare batteries in their carry-on bag, as long as they're in clear plastic baggies.
We recommend that you store each battery in a SEPARATE Plastic Bag. This will prevent accidental contact of the power terminals with another battery, loose coins, keys, jewelry or other metal objects.
Fortunately, you don't have to worry about the batteries that are already installed in the devices you're bringing. The TSA has said it's safe to check in items like a laptop, blackberry, iPod or iPhone that already have the batteries in place.
The agency said that loose lithium batteries not installed in devices pose a fire risk to passenger planes. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board could not rule out the possibility that lithium batteries started a fire in a plane at the Philadelphia National Airport last year, according to the Associated Press.
If you do plan on bringing spare batteries in your carry-on bag, be aware of some other rules:
* Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold. The Dell and DNG Apple Laptops used in the DC Bureau are below the threshold, however, some of the Camera batteries may NOT meet this threshold. Check each battery with the manufacturers specifications.
* You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are available at
http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html * For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery
* Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!
Robert Kwon
Southern Recording, Inc.
Topic: New TSA Battery Regulations! (Read 1956 times)