I am planning on traveling to Florida later in January.  Has anyone ever had any issues with Southwest Airline for carring LIPO batteries in carry on?
They will be in my hard shell drone case. (I have emailed the airline but gotten no responce yet)  Just wondering what others have experienced.

Generall speaking airlines in the US do not have a problem with you bringing your Phantom on board in the hard shell case. They will not usually let you put them in checked luggage.

Their website refers you to this guide:
http://phmsa.dot.gov/safetravel/batteries

That has the same info from the FAA that all other airlines base their lithium battery policies on.
https://www.faa.gov/about/initia ... more_info/?hazmat=7

Thank you for the comprehensive information..

I flew to Spain from California in November with a P3A w/ 3 batteries.
Checked the bird in as luggage batteries required to be carried on board.
Regardless of the Airline you fly... you should be as compliant as the worst case scrutiny.

That is... go to Amazon and order LiPo bags, they are cheap and they are safe.
Good idea to put a piece of electrical tape over the battery terminals also... TSA loves this.

Size of battery of Phantom usually requires it be carried on board, not checked baggage.
Can sometimes travel with one battery in the aircraft, and can have that checked baggage.

Leaving Los Angeles... TSA was not interested / Dallas, Ft.Worth... TSA not interested / Madrid, Spain, Customs ... not interested / Madrid to Tenerife: Would have taken the batteries if not for the LiPo bags.

M J PICARD Posted at 2017-1-1 03:42
I flew to Spain from California in November with a P3A w/ 3 batteries.
Checked the bird in as luggage batteries required to be carried on board.
Regardless of the Airline you fly... you should be as compliant as the worst case scrutiny.

There is no regulatory requirement for so called 'lipo safe bags' nor is there any standard to assess them by, nor are they actually all that safe if it encourages people to put more than one pack in the bag... so it would have been more than a little strange for any airport security staff to require them...

Do protect the terminals of the packs and do pack them so they are protected from each other, original retail packaging is good for this as are the cases that have individual slots for the packs.

Telrin Posted at 2017-1-1 04:11
There is no regulatory requirement for so called 'lipo safe bags' nor is there any standard to assess them by, nor are they actually all that safe if it encourages people to put more than one pack in the bag... so it would have been more than a little strange for any airport security staff to require them...

Do protect the terminals of the packs and do pack them so they are protected from each other, original retail packaging is good for this as are the cases that have individual slots for the packs.

I got bags to fit the P3 batteries individually, nice insulated package, like a camera case... $8 ea. w/ship.
Whether they are 'safe' or not I don't care; keeps them safe in my carry on bag and TSA is happy for $24

M J PICARD Posted at 2017-1-1 05:31
I got bags to fit the P3 batteries individually, nice insulated package, like a camera case... $8 ea. w/ship.
Whether they are 'safe' or not I don't care; keeps them safe in my carry on bag and TSA is happy for $24

... and that is just fine, anything that keeps the batteries protected from shorts and from each other will keep TSA happy.

Dear All,

I think this is the best forum to have the better feeback of travelers .

In one month I will travel from switzerland to Los angeles USA with British Airways (escal in London). I wrote in email and received the confirmation from Geneva Airport, Heathrow  Airport and TSA USA that I have the authorization to pass the security with my Mavic in my handbag. BUT... there is always a but... They told me to contact the airline company to have the final authorization to take the drone in cabine. British Airways replied me this morining that they cannot provide me the approval to take it in cabine. The reason is that they cannot take the risk to provide me the approval if the security refuse me at the on boarding... wtf... (I have bought a special bag for Lipo batteries and of courses have also registred my drone to the FAA regulation).

I took all the disposition to be aligned on law and rules but there is missing the only question about the cabine or loggage sout. Therfore, from your experiences, do I have to put my drone in the loggage soute or I have nothing to worry and I can take in  cabine ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Alex

alex240990 Posted at 2017-5-14 03:20
Dear All,

I think this is the best forum to have the better feeback of travelers .

Air Canada stopped me taking a P3A on board, if I hadn't been a couple of hours early for the flight would have missed it. Had to find luggage, put phantom in checked baggage, batteries in carry on.!
Batteries were at 30%, although no one seemed to care about batteries at all.

ive flown from Newark Airport to the Dutch Caribbean (Bonaire) twice now with my drone.

For the record...cant believe this isn't said more often. NEVER CHECK YOUR BATTERIES. you cant see your battery catch fire in the checked storage. changes in temperature can cause a battery to catch fire. however unlikely, better safe than sorry...

anyway ive taken the risky route apparently and never mentioned to anyone that my drone is coming with me. ive flown Delta and United with it and ive never once had a problem with customs, security, airline personal, etc. Both times, departing either airport, customs told me they don't care i have a drone. they just make sure i have the batteries on me and not checked. I would definitely recommend checking before you fly as theres no reason not to. Better safe than sorry.