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"Discrimination by Ryanair"

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    #92
    Cordell
    Registered Users Posts: 5,868 ✭✭✭Cordell


    lithium-ion batteries cannot exceed a total of 300 watts
    She was asked the wattage and didn't know
    This is technically rubbish, any phone battery can exceed 300W for a very short time. Battery capacity is not measured in Watts.
    Putting this aside, who can decide if the battery is safe or not and based upon which information? If the passenger says so then it is good enough? Do these things have any "airplane safe" kind of markings? Or, in order to make an informed decision, the crew has to read the specs of the battery, or have a look at the battery itself?

    I sympathize with the lady, but not every time when something doesn't go your way it is discrimination.


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    #93
    TheChizler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,446 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    weldoninhio wrote: »
    Wrong. The battery can only have a wattage up to 300. She was asked the wattage and didn't know. The pilot was 100% correct.
    According to the article she was asked the voltage actually.


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    #94
    TheChizler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,446 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Cordell wrote: »
    This is technically rubbish, any phone battery can exceed 300W for a very short time. Battery capacity is not measured in Watts.
    Due to internal resistance they can't. I presume the ryanair spec is looking for nominal power, which would be what the battery is capable of delivering continuously. Whether that's useful to know if it's safe or not is debatable but they set the rules.


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    #95
    odyssey06
    Registered Users Posts: 28,843 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    smurfjed wrote: »
    Based on your comments, I assume that you are an expert in the carriage of dangerous goods?

    If the goods are potentially dangerous it should never have been allowed on the plane - not the pilot's fault, but that is Ryanair's.

    If the goods are potentially dangerous and a battery > 300 watts is so dangerous to the plane, and the pilot is so concerned about it... is it safe to trust the word of the person in the wheelchair, or some random operating manual?
    If it's that big of a risk, Ryanair should have a blanket no fly rule for anything whose safety they or the airport cannot verify.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



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    #96
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,097 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    If the goods are potentially dangerous it should never have been allowed on the plane
    You are not correct, there are specific IATA Dangerous Goods regulations that all licensed carriers have to follow, they assess each and every cargo and provide information regarding how to deal with these items. For example a wheel chair with a dry battery may be permitted onboard as baggage, a wheel chair with a wet battery may not be allowed as checked baggage and would have to be shipped as cargo. The dry ice that keeps my ice cream cold is a dangerous good, we are limited in how much of it we can carry!


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    #97
    Irish Guitarist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,736 ✭✭✭Irish Guitarist


    She was then told by ground staff that she and her wheelchair would be put on the next flight and was immediately checked in for the following flight to Dublin, also operated by Ryanair. She said she received no answer when she attempted to ask why she was permitted to travel on this flight but not the previous one.

    The simple answer is they looked up the make and model of the wheelchair.

    Did she or someone with her not have a smartphone? They could have done a quick Google search for themselves for the specifications of the wheelchair. Or would it not be written somewhere on the wheelchair itself?

    It's ridiculous to call it discrimination. Her husband is in a wheelchair too and he didn't have any problems getting on because it's a manual wheelchair.


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    #98
    odyssey06
    Registered Users Posts: 28,843 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    smurfjed wrote: »
    You are not correct, there are specific IATA Dangerous Goods regulations that all licensed carriers have to follow, they assess each and every cargo and provide information regarding how to deal with these items. For example a wheel chair with a dry battery may be permitted onboard as baggage, a wheel chair with a wet battery may not be allowed as checked baggage and would have to be shipped as cargo.

    For example, if a wheel chair with a wet battery had been allowed by boarding staff as checked baggage... and it was only the pilot who caught it... that's a systems failure to me.
    The cargo should be actually assessed by ground staff not the pilot, as far as I'm concerned, and if nobody can tell if it's a dry or wet battery or if it's voltage is > 300 and they are just relying on google or a piece of paper from the owner that seems inherently risky to me?

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



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    #99
    Cordell
    Registered Users Posts: 5,868 ✭✭✭Cordell


    TheChizler wrote: »
    Due to internal resistance they can't. I presume the ryanair spec is looking for nominal power, which would be what the battery is capable of delivering continuously. Whether that's useful to know if it's safe or not is debatable but they set the rules.

    Yes, probably so, they are looking for batteries that don't exceed 300Wh nominal power. I did a quick search and most electric wheelchair advertised as "airline friendly" have a 12V 20Ah battery, which will be under 300Wh. But they are well capable of exceeding 1000W for short durations, so if we read the rules by the letter they cannot be carried onboard their planes.


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    #100
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Irish Guitarist wrote: »
    The simple answer is they looked up the make and model of the wheelchair.

    Did she or someone with her not have a smartphone? They could have done a quick Google search for themselves for the specifications of the wheelchair. Or would it not be written somewhere on the wheelchair itself?

    It's ridiculous to call it discrimination. Her husband is in a wheelchair too and he didn't have any problems getting on because it's a manual wheelchair.

    According to the Liveline interview they did, but they pilot had already made his mind up.


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    #101
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,097 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    In the interview, is she still claiming that she was discriminated against?


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    #102
    TheChizler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,446 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Cordell wrote: »
    Yes, probably so, they are looking for batteries that don't exceed 300Wh nominal power. I did a quick search and most electric wheelchair advertised as "airline friendly" have a 12V 20Ah battery, which will be under 300Wh. But they are well capable of exceeding 1000W for short durations, so if we read the rules by the letter they cannot be carried onboard their planes.

    They're looking for Watts not Watt-hours I think. Sure they could exceed 300 W temporarily but I imagine they'll be satisfied by the nominal power written on the battery label or in the documentation.


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