The ban takes effect almost immediately on all U.S. flights, and with good reason, said the Department of Transportation. The vapor-based devices have been deemed too dangerous for the luggage compartment.
No e-cigarettes or other electronic smoking devices are allowed in checked luggage because they pose a serious fire hazard. That means no e-cigarettes, e-cigs, e-cigars, e-pipes, personal vaporizers, or electronic nicotine delivery systems in your checked bags; you can, however, still carry an e-cigarette in your carry-on or with you through security. And you can’t vape on a plane.
The DOT says that the gadgets have a tendency to overheat (namely, if they short circuit or are left on accidentally). In fact, there have been 26 instances of the gizmos exploding or catching fire since 2009, says the DOT, including two incidents aboard airplanes in the past year and a half. In August 2014, a plane sitting on the ground at Boston Logan was evacuated when a ramp agent noticed smoke coming from the baggage hold; it was later determined to be from an e-cigarette in a passenger’s suitcase. And earlier this year, in Los Angeles, a bag that arrived too late to make its connecting flight caught fire in storage area, again, due to a smoldering e-cig. If either of those bags had been in the air at the time, the outcome could have been far worse.
Conde Nast Traveler, Barbara Peterson 10/28/2015
No e-cigarettes or other electronic smoking devices are allowed in checked luggage because they pose a serious fire hazard. That means no e-cigarettes, e-cigs, e-cigars, e-pipes, personal vaporizers, or electronic nicotine delivery systems in your checked bags; you can, however, still carry an e-cigarette in your carry-on or with you through security. And you can’t vape on a plane.
The DOT says that the gadgets have a tendency to overheat (namely, if they short circuit or are left on accidentally). In fact, there have been 26 instances of the gizmos exploding or catching fire since 2009, says the DOT, including two incidents aboard airplanes in the past year and a half. In August 2014, a plane sitting on the ground at Boston Logan was evacuated when a ramp agent noticed smoke coming from the baggage hold; it was later determined to be from an e-cigarette in a passenger’s suitcase. And earlier this year, in Los Angeles, a bag that arrived too late to make its connecting flight caught fire in storage area, again, due to a smoldering e-cig. If either of those bags had been in the air at the time, the outcome could have been far worse.
Conde Nast Traveler, Barbara Peterson 10/28/2015