Thermal runaway incidents involving lithium batteries as cargo, in luggage, or as personal property in the cabin have been associated with fatalities, the destruction of cargo, and even the loss of entire aircraft. This research represents the first examination of the incidence of lithium battery thermal runaway incidents involving a variety of rechargeable lithium-ion and lithium metal batteries on commercial flights in the U.S.A. The objective is to examine the occurrence of these thermal runaway incidents and the circumstances surrounding them from the best available data source, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) hazardous material incident database. Using descriptive statistics, the frequency of incidents and the circumstances surrounding these incidents, including incident characteristics, device type, preceding event, activity of device, and location of incident between 1996 and July 2019, are examined. There were records of 274 thermal runaway incidents in U.S. commercial air transportation during the approximately 23-year period., with 76% of these incidents reported since 2015. Fire was the most commonly reported characteristic and loose lithium batteries not otherwise specified were the most common device involved in these thermal runaways. Missing information on the circumstances surrounding incidents among was a common condition, and “Not Specified” represented the largest categorization of preceding events, activity of device and the second largest category of location. The focus of this paper is aviation, but it is expected that some of the insights and lessons learned from incidents in aviation can be extended to other modes of transportation as well.

涉及锂电池作为货物，行李，或机舱内个人财产的热失控事件与死亡，货物毁坏甚至整个飞机的损失有关。这项研究代表了对美国商业飞行中涉及各种可充电锂离子和锂金属电池的锂电池热失控事件的发生的首次检查。目的是研究这些热失控事件的发生情况及其周围的环境根据最佳数据来源，管道和有害物质安全管理局（PHMSA）有害物质事件数据库。使用描述性统计信息，事件发生的频率以及这些事件周围的环境，包括事件特征，设备类型，检查了1996年至2019年7月之前发生的事件，设备的活动以及事件的位置。在大约23年的时间里，美国商业航空运输中有274起热失控事件的记录。其中，自2015年以来已报告了76％的事件。火灾是最常报告的特征，未另作说明的松散锂电池是最常见的这些热失控所涉及的设备。常见的情况是缺少有关事件周围环境的信息，“未指定”代表先前事件，设备活动和位置第二大类别的最大分类。本文的重点是航空，