ENHANCING LITHIUM BATTERY SAFETY IN THE SKIES
Incident Trends
Data from both industry and government sources confirm that the number and rate of lithium battery thermal incidents is trending upward. In its 2020 report to Congress, LiBASAC included preliminary findings from the newly established Thermal Runaway Incident Program (TRIP). In addition to including preliminary findings, the report to Congress recommended bolstering information-sharing efforts through TRIP or an alternative program with similar objectives. UL Standards & Engagement took the lead in investing and growing TRIP and today, the program has matured significantly, offering more robust insights from the data it collects from its 37 participating airlines along with twice annual summits for the aviation community to learn from one another. Between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2024, a total of 501 thermal runaway incidents were reported to the TRIP database. These events occurred across 31 commercial air carriers and at numerous TSA security checkpoints. While the number of reported incidents temporarily declined in 2020 and 2021, mirroring a dip in travel related to the COVID-19 pandemic, incident rates rose sharply in subsequent years with a marginal decrease in 2024. 2
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