Airline checks Dell and Apple computers for hazard

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Correction — May 3, 2007 The author of this article has not provided sufficient references for all claims made in this story. As such, it might not be 100% accurate.

Qantas, Australia’s primary airline, has begun checking the batteries of Dell and Apple computers and in some cases removing them for the safety of the passengers. This relatively new safety precaution was sparked by a battery recall a few months ago. 4 million Dell laptops worldwide were recalled after some of the laptop batteries exploded, causing the laptop to erupt into a fireball.

Although Qantas has yet to release a statement, they are expected to within the next few days. The company said in an interview that the practice has been occurring for a number of months for the passengers’ safety to mitigate the rare chance of fire.

In some circumstances yes, the cabin staff shall ask some passengers to remove the battery of their laptop in order for them to check there is no chance of the battery being a fire hazard. This is however managed by the cabin crew and not the airline management itself.

—Sharron, an employee of Qantas.