Mooney destroyed by battery fire?

[Skates97]

2 hours ago, 00-Negative said:

The pilot responded on a Facebook forum. He uses a Stratux instead of a Stratus which is the same thing I use. It does not have an internal battery that I am aware of. Mine came with an external lithium battery pack which connects via micro-usb (see attached picture). He said he dropped the battery while walking to the plane. After starting his plane, the Stratux did not work, so he put it in the backseat. During run-up, he turned around and the back seat was on fire. 

This is something to be aware of, the battery packs can go wonky if they get dropped. Also keep an eye to see if it starts to look deformed (swelling up), it's warning you that bad things are likely going to happen soon.

[EricJ]

Bummer for the owner.   :'(

Very glad that happened on the ground, though.   I'm hoping he was sufficiently insured. 

The older stratux weren't very tolerant of power interruptions, and would sometimes corrupt the flash card on shutdown or if power was interrupted somehow during flight.  That bug was fixed many years ago, but it had got me in the habit of powering the stratux with a battery (like shown) and keeping the battery plugged in to ship's power to keep it charged.   The battery is in my flight bag normally, and just gets plugged in during preflight.   I also take a stratux with its own battery on flights in other aircraft that aren't equipped for providing traffic display on an EFB.    I have other, similar equipment that I fly with sometimes that are powered by the same batteries.

Likewise any EFB tablet has essentially the same types of batteries, so pose a similar (but limited) risk.

So, yeah, I'm wondering what I'd do if a battery fire started in flight.    The one that runs the stratux just sits on the back seat, and is plugged into an outlet back there.   I could potentially grab the cords and chuck it out the window, but just reaching it would be tough, let alone dealing with handling something on fire.

[Mooney in Oz]

3 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Even though I don't carry a battery pack I might pick up a containment bag on amazon and keep it in the seat pocket, just in case the battery in a tablet or phone goes crazy. I guess you'd need welding gloves or something better than that to get it in the bag though.

I have a containment bag and fireproof gloves purchased from Amazon that I keep in the reachable front passenger rear seat pocket.

Hope I never have to use it.

[Ibra]

7 hours ago, 00-Negative said:

He said he dropped the battery while walking to the plane

They may go on fire after a drop, I had a case with portable battery that went crazy in car parking after it hit the ground...

Happens to phones as well,

 

 

Edited May 2, 2024 by Ibra

[ArtVandelay]

They may go on fire after a drop, I had a case with portable battery that went crazy in car parking after it hit the ground...
Happens to phones as well,
 
 

Probably resulting in an internal short.

[A64Pilot]

13 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Probably resulting in an internal short.

Once in a blue moon, I’ve never seen it but apparently electric model airplanes will light off after a crash.

I don’t trust the bags as those batteries often burst with I believe enough strength to bust a bag, I used to charge my model batteries in one of the Wife’s corning ware dishes with the glass top. None ever caught fire but as we rapid charged them apparently they did every now and again. Fast charging is another way to light one off, it’s the high temps I think generated by rapid charging.

I regularly fly with electric scooters in my baggage compt, but they are years old, I don’t charge them in the airplane and the batteries are UL certified etc. I know it’s a risk, but with my knees it’s either that or be stuck at the airport because calling an Uber ever weekend to eat breakfast is a little excessive.

If you use a Li-Po battery, best to ensure it’s a high quality battery, and if LifePo4 AKA Lithium Iron etc, go that route as LifePo4 is harder to make have a thermal runaway than lead acid.

Many group all Lithium batteries as being fire hazards because they don’t know any better, but there are major differences in the different chemistries.

[Hank]

16 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

Many group all Lithium batteries as being fire hazards because they don’t know any better, but there are major differences in the different chemistries.

Because to many of us, "chemistry" is at best an impolite word.

A girl in my high school chemistry class had been straight As, honor roll student her whole life. First test, she made a D and cried right there in the classroom . . . .

[N201MKTurbo]

Everybody wants batteries that last longer. That means putting more energy in them. People rarely consider just how much energy they are carrying around in their pockets until it is all released at once.

[Yetti]

Generally safe till damaged.  The Tesla we had light off.   The battery pack got pierced with a metal pipe.

[LANCECASPER]

https://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-flight-diverted-ireland-laptop-stuck-seat-passengers-delayed-2024-5#:~:text=A United Airlines flight was,the flight crew timed out.

[LANCECASPER]

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/194155/pdf

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=194155

[MikeOH]

OK, so the NTSB considers the damage "substantial"....curious what they would consider "destroyed" to be?

 

[Yetti]

49 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/194155/pdf

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=194155

So many ways to respond to the pictures.   Wow glad it did not get to the fuel tanks.    How did it burn if everything in the cockpit was burn certified?   That sucks a $40.00 battery took another Mooney out of the fleet.    How am I going to report this to the insurance company?   Hey Chief you are not going to believe this one.