- The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Apple laptops affected by a recent recall because of overheating batteries have been banned by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration from being brought on flights.

“The FAA is aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops,” the agency said in a statement reported Tuesday.

Airlines were notified about the voluntary recall last month and reminded to follow the FAA’s instructions for traveling with potentially dangerous products, the statement said.

The statement cited the FAA’s Packsafe website, which says that “lithium batteries recalled by the manufacturer/vendor must not be carried aboard aircraft or packed in baggage unless the recalled product/component has been replaced or repaired or otherwise made safe per manufacturer/vendor instructions.”

Apple declined to comment, pointing instead to the company’s earlier press release about the affected laptops.

Recalled by Apple in June, the laptops include certain 15-inch MacBook Pros models sold between September 2015 and February 2017. Apple said at the time that the company had determined that, in a limited number of units, “the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk,” and advised customers to stop using the laptops and to have their batteries replaced.

More than a half-million Apple laptops are subject to the recall, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: about 432,000 units sold in the U.S. and about 26,000 sold in Canada.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency similarly responded to the recall earlier this month by instructions regional airlines to follow its rules from flying with recalled batteries. Several international carriers, including four airlines managed by Total Cargo Expertise, have since barred the laptops from being shipped as cargo, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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