US regulators ban hundreds of thousands of recalled Apple MacBook Pros from flights
- About 432,000 of the Apple laptops sold in the US are believed to be affected by the recall, with an additional 26,000 or so sold in Canada
In a statement, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was “aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops” and stated that it had alerted major US airlines about the recall.
The watchdog also reminded airlines to follow safety instructions from 2016 for goods with recalled batteries, which means that the affected Apple laptops should not be taken on flights as cargo or in carry-on baggage by passengers.
The Apple laptops in question are some 15-inch MacBook Pros sold between September 2015 and February 2017. Apple issued the recall in June, saying it had “determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.”
This week, four airlines with cargo operations managed by Total Cargo Expertise – TUI Group Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines, Air Italy, and Air Transat – implemented a ban, barring the laptops from being brought onto the carriers’ planes as cargo, according to an internal notice.
“Please note that the 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro laptop, sold between mid-2015 to February-2017 is prohibited on board any of our mandate carriers,” a TCE operations coordinator wrote to employees.
