Korean Air bans Dell laptops, Apple PowerBooks and iBooks

So it would seem that Korean Air has forbidden all Dell laptops and Apple's PowerBook and iBook models from its flights due to the risk that those computers' batteries might explode, reports The Korea Times. The newspaper also reported that Australian airline Qantas made a similar ban last month for the same reasons. Naturally, the longer it takes Sony, the batteries' manufacturer, to sort through this exploding battery fiasco, the harder and harder its going to be to get your Dell or Apple on a plane, but we know the pressure's on. Sony has already faced the wrath of the Japanese Ministry of Trade, and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and apparently the US Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into the problem as well. Damn, it's hard out there for Sony -- maybe it'd do well to quell everyone's fears by giving out some free PS3s for awhile, whattayasay?

[Via ThinkSecret]

[z @ Sep 6th 2006 6:44AM]

When will consumers stop airliners from acting stupid?
Just give the airline crews the rather small list of serial numbers of the incriminated batteries, and lets not get too irrational... People buy these machines also to be able to work on planes, and the risk is known for only a few items.

[Ben @ Sep 6th 2006 7:05AM]

Yes, you're stereotyping.

[WilliamBlake @ Sep 6th 2006 7:16AM]

I'm the rolling thunder; I've got an exploding Dell.
My ThinkPad was lost in last hurricane.
White planes are burning across the sky!
You're only young but you're gonna die!

I won't take no batteries - won't play iLife!
Nobody's computting up in this flight!
I got my fill; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - SONY get you...

CHORUS:
Hell's Dells!
Yeah, Hell's Dells!
You got me ringing Hell's Dells!
My temperature's high! Hell's Dells!

I'll give you burning sensations up and down your spine.
If you're into Mac, you're a friend of mine.
See my burnt Dell flashing as I split the night,
'Cause if good's on the left, then I'm stickin' to the right!

I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives;
If you bought a Dell you did a crime.
I got my iBook; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - SONY get you...

CHORUS

Yeow!
Hell's Dells, SONYs comin' to you!
Hell's Dells, he's ringing them now!
Hell's Dells, the temperature's high!
Hell's Dells, iBooks burn the sky...
Hell's Dells, they're takin' you down.
Hell's Dells, they're draggin' you around.
Hell's Dells, gonna split the night!
Hell's Dells, there's no way to fly! Yeah!

Ow, ow, ow, ow!

Hell's Dells!

[Torontoguy @ Sep 6th 2006 7:38AM]

I still think that the criticism of Sony (and their battery technology) is misplaced. If the batteries were REALLY the problem, then we would see all of the other companies that also use Sony batteries in their laptops (including Sony's own Vaios) catching fire as well. This is obviously a Dell and Apple problem and the airlines are correct in banning them. There is obviously no need to ban all of those Sony laptops that also carry Sony batteries.

Maybe, like iPods, those Apple laptops are are produced in isolated sweatshops somewhere in China and the charging systems are defective?

[MICHAEL_TIS @ Sep 6th 2006 7:40AM]

OUTSTANDING!!

[ZekeS @ Sep 6th 2006 7:53AM]

Torontoguy, you're saying the cheapest seller and one of the most expensive are to blame for a wide range of battery problems over many lines of laptops produced for YEARS, and that they are at fault even though they aren't recalling the laptops to fix the charging system?!

A recall of 6 million batteries across different makes and brands is a systemic problem on the part of the battery maker, not the laptop maker.

[DC Guy @ Sep 6th 2006 7:56AM]

Uh Torontoguy - you're totally wrong. The batteries are defective, not the laptops. Who made the batteries? Sony. Their products are cheap...have been for years. Their stuff is cr@p.

Oh, yea, and the airlines should check the batteries against a list of serial numbers? Give me a break, Z - they have enough to do than worry about wasting their time with that. Not to mention that do you really trust that they would be able to discern 0's from O's? Or 5's and S's? Not! Buy a new laptop if your work is that important.

[kitsch @ Sep 6th 2006 7:58AM]

Well, I don't know about Dells, but there definitely are engineering issues of batteries in Apple laptops. But none leads to bursting into fire. The security problem here is 100% associated with Sony, and the company has announcedly taken full responsibility. The fact that only Dells and Macs are the problematic laptops does not necessarily mean something is wrong with them in particular, as Sony produces different types of batteries for different laptop brands.
Yet, the question is: Will I be able to persuade the agent before boarding that my MacBook, for instance, is not on the ban-list? I guess they will not let any computer with an apple logo on board.

[morty salt @ Sep 6th 2006 8:11AM]

I'm just going to take a few static cling stickers with the Sony and IBM logos to stick onto my ibook. They will never know. And since I can just boot into bootcamp, the flight information persons(stewardess) will never know.

[Rivendale286 @ Sep 6th 2006 9:09AM]

So, when is Sony going to be filing for bankruptcy? They're going to lose an absurd amount of money when this is finally worked out, they're only going to have 500k PS3s worlwide at launch, etc...

[Rich A. @ Sep 6th 2006 9:52AM]

That's awesome. I flew Korean Air three weeks ago and used my Apple Macbook Pro during the flight. I had better hope that airline security spots the built-in camera and knows the difference between a MBP and a Powerbook on my flight back to the States, or there's gonna be hell to pay.

[Kevin @ Sep 6th 2006 10:20AM]

I love my Dell D600, even if the left hand side gets alarmingly hot. And I love my Axim handheld. Heck, I just won't use those airlines, there're a hundred others.

[Torontoguy @ Sep 6th 2006 10:31AM]

If Sony is to blame why are Lenovo laptops (that also use Sony batteries) NOT have the overheating problem?
If Sony is to blame then why is Panasonic (which DOESN'T use Sony batteries) recalling the batteries for their CF-W4G notebooks?
Why are Sony, Fujitsu, HP and Toshiba laptops (which ALL use Sony batteries) DON'T have the problem and are not being recalled? In fact a Fujitsu spokesman has determined that some 'other' manufacturers allow high voltages from their chargers to flow directly to the battery...something that Fujitsu (among the other manufacturers) make sure doesn't happen.
Apple hardware may be expensive but that doesn't mean that thjey are of the highest quality...in fact I have always been underwhelmed by Apples lousy quality which is to be expected from a company that concentrates on selling a myth and an image instead of quality. In order to make more money, they simply cut costs by using shoddy engineering.

[Perrey Z. @ Sep 6th 2006 10:32AM]

Z; they are not acting stupid, they are taking precautions, no one wants to have a incident in the air resulting in something more fatal. The crew DOES NOT have the time to check a bunch of serial numbers and match possible defective notebooks before boarding the airplanes, that's the job AND responsibility of the owner NOT the airlines.

Rivendale86; Who knows, but if things are going the way they are... Sony will always be remembered as the great innovator that fell from the pedestal to become the great mediocre company that it is today. And don't forget the PS3 will not include the HDMI cable.

[John Laur @ Sep 6th 2006 11:15AM]

Wow; this is insane. I wonder what will happen when word gets around that you can start a fire with pretty much any battery.

[Rick Lyon @ Sep 6th 2006 11:41AM]

Here locally, a father was driving with his 12 yr old daughter while she typed away on her Dell laptop when BAM IT BURST INTO FLAMES!! They freaked, pulled over and jumped out while their truck burnt to the ground. The guy obviously pissed his pants (who wouldn't ) because you could see him twitching when recalling the events for the new cameras.

Sucks again to be Sony. There's gonna be a lawsuit from this one I'm sure, dude lost his truck!

[gung-ho! @ Sep 6th 2006 11:54AM]

Shut your Cracker ass up! Jiggasaw

[Rikko @ Sep 6th 2006 12:07PM]

Jiggsaw - er, no, I don't see what's wrong with your picture. Does Korean food tend to explode, too? Is your palate so frail that spicy food makes you self-combust?

To the other discussion: the batteries are the problem. Not "Sony Batteries"; "THOSE Sony Batteries". It shouldn't surprise people to know that different models of all the things they buy can very well be made in different factories, even on different continents.

[Jim @ Sep 6th 2006 12:42PM]

Easy - no fly Korean.

[drfish @ Sep 6th 2006 1:35PM]

Funny how Sony uses their own cells but has no problems, huh? Guess they've been keeping the good ones for themselves.

Or. Intentionally making everybody else's laptops go boom.

[Liam @ Sep 6th 2006 4:58PM]

@morty salt

not sure how you can use boot camp on an ibook, and macbook (pros) dont appear to be banned.

[yumyum76 @ Sep 6th 2006 7:15PM]

Just buy yourselves some Toshiba, Samsung, HP logos, and stick 'em on your notebooks. Problem solved.

[Alex Gilson @ Sep 6th 2006 11:16PM]

Wonder If they'd have a problem with my overheating hp made in Korea?

[Mace @ Sep 6th 2006 11:35PM]

William Blake^ - One word - Awesome. m/ m/

[Walter Cho @ Sep 8th 2006 5:02AM]

I think it is a fair decision. If a laptop blows up inside an airplane, especially since today's aircraft powersource uses low amphere and therefore powercord from the computer overloads, it can accelerate the process of blowing up the batteries.
Neverthless, it would be scary to see a laptop blow up inside a plane especially if I was using it. I have no room to escape the blast.