[avemg]

I am going to ask a question that I’m a little scared to ask because I suspect it’s really dumb, but here goes: is it at all feasible or practical to have a way to jettison a runaway battery from the aircraft? I guess most of the time the problems happen because nobody knows there’s a problem before it’s gotten too out of control for that.

[appreciatorBus]

You’d have to devise some sort of fire proof mini airlock, large enough for a laptop or whatever the largest device you expect to deal with. This would be pretty expensive and not very practical, but even if it was, then you’d have to deal with the ethical and legal issues of where it lands and whether or not it might cause a fire there too, to say nothing of injuring someone or damaging property.

[dingaling]

> You’d have to devise some sort of fire proof mini airlock

Maritime patrol aircraft like the P-8 already have such a system, for releasing sonobuoys and float-flares while at altitude.

So it's not a technical issue, more one of regulation and maintenance.

[appreciatorBus]

Sure, I wasn’t trying to imply that it couldn’t be done, only that it would be expensive and impractical for civilian aviation, especially when there are good alternatives.

[joecool1029]

> then you’d have to deal with the ethical and legal issues of where it lands

Meh, it's a risk reduction thing. Aircraft sometimes dump fuel too in emergencies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dumping

Earth is covered with a lot of water too, if you could eject it... risk is approaching zero on dumping a flaming battery over ocean.

[fsckboy]

dumped fuel does not land on the ground, it evaporates

[joecool1029]

Except when it doesn’t: https://apnews.com/article/delta-fuel-dump-schools-lawsuit-s...

[soopypoos]

it'd get caught by a bird