I had almost a similar experience. I printed out both the rules from the FAA website and the calculations on each battery and that was fine in the U'S, but in Switzerland once I pulled all of the batteries out of the battery safe they cleared the line, moved me aside and called every supervisor ate the airport to come and see. I gave them the printout, they passed the batteries through some machine they brought over and after about an hour they said they were batteries, packed them back up and sent me on my way.
But I watched them check my calculations and log into the website [I put the web address on the form I printed out] to make sure I followed the rules, I guess. If it wasn't so important to what I was doing I might have found it funny.
Other than it took quite a while, they were very nice about it, I was just surprised that they didn't act like they'd ever seen LiPo's before.
Yeah, I had tracked down a few lipos in Colorado, which was surprisingly hard. So I brought them back with me. TSA in Denver were extremely professional about it. The primary guy flagged me, as well he should (I am actually happy they check this stuff), and they efficiently passed it up the chain of command. Not 5 minutes later, I was on my way with a polite explanation.
Not what I was expecting.
The problem wasn't really even CATSA. They did their jobs. It was just that CATSA's website basically says "Ok, as long as you check with your carrier." Air Canada's website, also said it was OK with no reservations, so I assumed that was sufficient to satisfy that requirement. But CATSA called Air Canada, and I guess Air Canada doesn't actually train their own people on what their policies are, or how to enforce them. I would have gone higher up the food chain, but I was late for my flight, and had to literally run the rest of the way to the gate. What a nightmare!
Later on, I complained to AC, who did nothing but pass the buck to CATSA, without actually listening to the story.
It should come as no surprise to anybody who has flown AC.
Oh, and then they lost my helicopter on the return flight. I did eventually get it. As evidenced by the damage on the 3/4" plywood case, I guess it must have fallen out of the airplane or something. :highly_amused:
wonder if you made labels with all the info tsa wants real or not would work. this cell contains xxx grams of lithium,,,,
I know people who have done just that.
Part of the problem with the regulation is that it's unclear, and practically unenforceable. How is anybody to know how much lithium is in the darn things? And the Wh is printed on laptop batteries, but not all batteries. Many devices (say: Ipads) have batteries buried in them, so you can't see the specs. Maybe they exceed the limit? Who knows? I'm sure they don't, but just for argument's sake, it demonstrates how badly this regulation is written.
Frankly, given just how dangerous they are, I would actually be completely fine with them simply saying you can't bring them on the plane, period. If that was just the way it was, clear as day, so we all knew what to do, I'd be happier.