Oliver Haslam on August 15, 2019, 11:37 pm

FAA Bans Select 15-Inch Apple MacBook Pro Models On Flights Citing Risks Of Battery Explosion, Check To See If Yours Is Affected

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned people from taking the recalled 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks onto flights in the United States.

This is the same ban that other devices have fallen foul of in recent past, including the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 from Samsung.

Apple previously initiated a voluntary recall of all impacted 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro models earlier this year. The issue, relating to faulty batteries, could potentially lead to fires and in rare cases, explosions. As Bloomberg points out, the FAA has informed airlines to prevent those devices from boarding airplanes.

Of course, this isn’t a new development. Airlines routinely ban any battery-based product from flying when an active recall is in operation. It was the same with the aforementioned Galaxy Note 7 and it will surely be the same in the future, too. In fact, the FAA said as much in a statement to The Verge when it mentioned an existing Safety Alert for Operators from 2016.

The FAA is aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops. In early July, we alerted airlines about the recall, and we informed the public. We issued reminders to continue to follow instructions about recalls outlined in the 2016 FAA Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) 16011, and provided information provided to the public on FAA’s Packsafe website: https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/

If you own a 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro and are concerned, contact Apple to ascertain whether your machine is one of those that need attention. Apple already has a web page available for such a thing, too.

(Source: Bloomberg)