Code of Federal Regulations for Lithium Ion Batteries 49 CFR 175.10

Below is the DOT regulation regarding airline travel with lithium ion batteries.  Up to January 1, 2012, compliance with this regulation has been on a voluntary basis for the airlines.  As of January 1, 2012, compliance is mandatory.

TravelScoot's single capacity Li-Ion battery contains 24 gram lithium and is approved for air travel.

The complete text of 49 CFR 175.10 is at
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=1cbbd60e3b9ad751579279fd251f54b3&rgn=div8&view=text&node=49:2.1.1.3.11.1.25.5&idno=49.  Sections 17 and 18 apply to the lithium ion batteries.  I have excerpted the text below:

(17) A lithium ion battery-powered wheelchair or other mobility aid as follows:

(i) A wheelchair or other mobility aid equipped with a lithium ion battery, when carried as checked baggage, provided—

(A) The lithium ion battery must be of a type that successfully passed each test in the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria as specified in §173.185 of this subchapter, unless approved by the Associate Administrator;

(B) Visual inspection of the wheelchair or mobility aid reveals no obvious defects;

(C) Battery terminals must be protected from short circuits ( e.g., by being enclosed within a battery container that is securely attached to the mobility aid);

(D) The pilot-in-command is advised, either orally or in writing, prior to departure, as to the location of the wheelchair or mobility aid aboard the aircraft; and

(E) The wheelchair or mobility aid is loaded, stowed, secured and unloaded in an upright position and in a manner that prevents unintentional activation and protects it from damage.

(F) A lithium metal battery is forbidden aboard a passenger-carrying aircraft.

(ii) A wheelchair or other mobility aid when carried as checked or carry-on baggage, provided—

(A) The wheelchair or other mobility aid is designed and constructed in a manner to allow for stowage in either a cargo compartment or in the passenger cabin;

(B) The lithium ion battery and any spare batteries are carried in the same manner as spare batteries in paragraph (a)(18) of this section.

(C) The lithium ion battery and any spare batteries are carried in the same manner as spare batteries in paragraph (a)(18) of this section.

(18) Except as provided in §173.21 of this subchapter, portable electronic devices (for example, watches, calculating machines, cameras, cellular phones, lap-top and notebook computers, camcorders, etc.) containing cells or batteries (including lithium cells or batteries) and spare batteries and cells for these devices, when carried by passengers or crew members for personal use. Each spare battery must be individually protected so as to prevent short circuits (by placement in original retail packaging or by otherwise insulating terminals, e.g. , by taping over exposed terminals or placing each battery in a separate plastic bag or protective pouch) and carried in carry-on baggage only. In addition, each installed or spare battery must not exceed the following:

(i) For a lithium metal battery, a lithium content of not more than 2 grams per battery; or

(ii) For a lithium-ion battery, an aggregate equivalent lithium content of not more than 8 grams per battery, except that up to two batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of more than 8 grams but not more than 25 grams may be carried.

Air travel with the Li-ion battery

This post began on Facebook. Hopefully some of you will have more helpful comments for Denise.

Denise:

Question about air travel....have you flown with your Li-ion battery? United told me today that I can not and will have to use my SLA. What has been your experience Elizabeth. We are flying Washington IAD to Rome in 10 days.

B'racha:

Hmm, I was under the impression that the small Li-ion met regulations & that only the new, larger one did not. Ok, I just checked, http://www.travelscoot.com/batteries.htm  and the DOT site http://safetravel.dot.gov/larger_batt.html  and the small LI-ion IS approved for airline travel. One gram more and it would not be allowed.

Marlee:

On the website CruiseCritic's disabled travel forum (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190 ), Hardy personally answered this question as follows:

"TravelScoot on airlines: The FAA regulations about Lithium batteries are for stand alone batteries or in conjuction with general equipment. For batteries in mobility devices they have relaxed rules, see http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/media/MaterialsCarriedByPassengersAndCrew.pdf  According to that the airline only want to know whether the battery is spillable or non-spillable. Even spillable batteries are permitted but they will be stored in special boxes and kept upright.

All TravelScoot batteries are non-spillable are marked as such."

If/when you call United back AT THE AIRPORT, ask to speak to the 'CRO' aka the Crisis Resolution Officer. This person is required to be on call 24/7 and knows all the Air Carrier Act stuff that the regular staff doesn't know.


From United's own website http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,1040,00.html,


"United will check your personal wheelchair free of charge along with luggage. Battery-powered wheelchairs—with dry cell, wet cell, gel cell, or non-spillable electric storage batteries—are acceptable, but certain safety procedures must be followed in preparing the wheelchair for carriage.


Reservations personnel will be happy to answer any specific questions."


I'm flying Continental with my Travelscoot tomorrow for the first time and will report back.

Elizabeth:

Denise, I have flown on 4 flights with my Li-ion battery, and never had a minute's trouble, but it was inside the US. Lynn Ellen flew to Australia with her scoot and two Li-ion batteries, and didn't have any trouble that I know of. Maybe she'll see this thread and comment. I really agree with what Marlee said about calling United.

The photo above is of Lynn Ellen at the beginning of her flight to Australia.  You can't see it, but she's got two Li-ion batteries attached under ALL THAT LUGGAGE!

Riding a TravelScoot through the airports

As you can see in the picture, I have two carry on bags on the handlebars of my TravelScoot. If I had that to do all over again I would have gotten a small rolling suitcase that I could have fit under my legs, and packed absolutely everything I could in my checked baggage. I would have even paid the $25 for a second bag in order to do that. At my size every pound can affect how the TravelScoot handles inclines. As far as I know Rhonda and Lynn Ellen did not have the same problems I had, so when you are reading this, keep in mind that with 26 pounds of battery, me, and two weighty carry ons, I had between 475-500 lbs on my scoot.

Which airport I was in when is just a blur, so I'm going to talk in generalities. When I was on a flat surface the scoot performed beautifully, as it did going down ramps. (Can we say wheeeeeeee!!!!!) When we moved into a train to go through an airport or changed from one surface to another (like where the plane connects to the ramp, or the ramp to the airport), most of the time it handled the bump well, but sometimes it would bump pretty hard.

I started the day out with a fully charged sla battery and a fully charged l-ion battery. By the time we made it through three airports and got to our hotel room, both needed recharging. I didn't begin using my scoot until we got to the New Orleans airport. We were very early for our flight so I did ride around the airport more than was required to get to the plane. In Dallas I rode it again, then made a long trek with it at the Dulles Airport to get to the place where we caught the shuttle bus. A good bit of this time I was also pulling my big suitcase on wheels.
The good news is that it was easy to put the scoot on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel. They didn't even have to fold it to store it.

If you can think of specific questions I haven't answered, please feel free to ask.

Details of Lynn Ellen's Flights

From Lynn Ellen:

I rode into the international terminal and was told that regardless of the weight of the scoot, for my trip to Australia, I had to check my scooter. So I picked it up in Sydney in the oversized baggage area, then rode with my bags to the domestic area, and again they took it from me in the baggage area on the short domestic trip to Melbourne.

The next plane ride was to the small airport at Hamilton Island. Melbourne domestic let me ride it to the gate, and they brought it out for me at the bottom of the stairs at Hamilton Island. Ditto the trip back (the stairs were doable going up as well, thank goodness).

The way back I was luckier, and once they had someone inspect the scoot and the battery, all I had to do was disconnect the battery and the let me take it to the gate in Melbourne, and then again in Sydney, but when I arrived in San Francisco, they held it til I made it thru customs, so I was in another wheelchair, driven by a stalwart helper (as I have traveled in the past, before Scoot).

The take-away message: it may or may not go as hoped, but it is worth the try. Some airports wanted me to take the battery completely off and put it into the tote bag purchased from the TravelScoot website, but attached to the seat stem of the Scoot. And it didn't seem to matter if I folded down the handlebars or put the cover over them. in fact, it may have been easier for them to wheel it around if left fully up. who knows. it also helped to convince the Australian folks that it was light when I was able to say that even with both Lithium batteries, the ensemble was less than 20 kilograms. that really helped.