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In 2010, UPS Flight 6 in Dubai was brought down by a fire that started in a pallet of Lithium Ion batteries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

The article claims that there’s one incident per week for these passenger-owned device fires on commercial flights. When they happen in the cabin it’s spectacular and terrifying but the bigger worry is when a fire smolders out of sight.

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So should one not pack a power bank (Anker) in your check in luggage?

You shouldn’t and, at least in Europe, any kind of spare battery is forbidden in checked luggage. You also shouldn’t use power banks at all during flight.

Wait what, Since when has that been the rule ?

A laptop is a power bank to anything you plug into it by USB...

I think it's due to many power banks being so shitty that the chance of them catching fire in normal operation is not insignificant.

From the EASA guidelines on lithium batteries (https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/Backgroun...):

> Also, spare batteries, including power banks, should not be recharged while on board the aircraft. Additionally, power banks should not be connected or providing power to a device while on board the aircraft.

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