Power bank on fire on an Air China flight: our reader's account of rules in China

Saturday, October 18, a Air China flight departed from Hangzhou and directed to Seoul was forced to divert to Shanghai after a power bank stored in carry-on luggage caught fire in a hat rack. The plane, a Airbus A321, broke course and made an emergency landing at Pudong.

  

The device, a lithium battery carried by a passenger, began emitting smoke and flames minutes after takeoff. The crew responded promptly, using fire extinguishers and fireproof bags in accordance with prescribed procedures. No one was injured, but passengers continued their journey on another aircraft, arriving at their destination several hours late.

Lithium batteries: a risk that returns

This is yet another incident that confirms the Hazardousness of uncertified batteries, especially when damaged or of uncertain provenance. The Chinese authorities, who have already been monitoring the phenomenon for some time, have introduced very strict rules On boarding power banks, both on domestic and international flights.

One of our readers, who has just returned from a business trip to China, told us about his experience this way:

"I am returning now from a business trip to China. Here they have introduced strict rules on power banks which can be boarded on all flights departing from China (both domestic and international). As everywhere else, boarding in checked baggage is not allowed while carry-on baggage requires that the devices have China Compulsory Certification (CCC).

I did a few domestic flights and the checks were extremely thorough. A colleague had a new power bank, 10,000 mAh, without the certification, and they were absolutely intransigent (as well as with others). Good thing is that at the moment it is possible to handle sending the seized device to an address in China (the colleague had it sent to the hotel where she is staying)."

La CCC (China Compulsory Certification) is a mandatory certification mark for many products to be imported or sold in China, similar to the CE mark Europe.

The testimony confirms how much the Chinese authorities have become intransigent: devices without certification are blocked, even if they are new, and travelers can only have them shipped to a local address as a temporary seizure management measure.

Currently, in order to have a CCC-certified power bank, you need to. buy it directly in China and, if you were not loco, you have to turn to online offerings. From e-commerce such as Temu, Alibaba, or other Chinese portals, CCC-certified power banks are shipped, but the receiving time, possible duty and the risk of running into a counterfeit branded product do not make this an optimal solution.

Power banks suitable for airline flights in China are beginning to become available on Amazon UK. Currently one such product is the Momax Qi2 magnetic 10000 mAh . This article will be updated as soon as more CCC-certified power banks are made available for shipping in Italy.

A global problem, not just Chinese

Le lithium batteries remain a aviation security challenge. There have been numerous cases of overheating and spontaneous fires on board in recent years, so many companies have introduced Prohibitions or restrictions on the use and charging of power banks during the flight.

That of Air China is not an isolated case but yet another wake-up call: even a small device can become a real threat at 10,000 meters altitude. That is why rules exist and must be followed, and those traveling with batteries or electronic devices would do well to always check trademarks and certifications, in addition to the Specific policies of the airline you are flying with.