When it comes to flights, regulators need to be extremely careful about what they allow onboard and what not. Even the slightest spark of fire on board can result in a gruesome accident and hence, most aviation regulators across the world take a dim view of anything that could prove to be a fire hazard in any shape or form.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proven to be one of the most effective aviation regulators in the world over the past decades and it has come down hard on plenty of items that they deem unsafe for flights.
In that regard, the regulator has historically not been tolerant of hugely popular items that may be produced by the biggest corporations in the world. In a new development, the FAA has decided to ban certain models of Apple’s MacBook Pro from flights since it has been deemed as a fire hazard.
Some models of the MacBook Pro have been found to have been fitted with a battery that is susceptible to catching fire and back in June, and the tech giant had announced this particular update. As a matter of fact, Apple had even announced that it was going to recall the 15-inch models that had been bought by customers in the period from September 2015 up until February of 2017.
Once this came to light, the FAA had no other option but to ban these particular models from flights. In a statement with regards to the development, the FAA stated, “The FAA is aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops.”
In addition to that, the regulator went to state that all airlines operating in the United States have also been informed about this update. However, the FAA has not yet stated how it is going to identify the models that are going to be banned from flights, and it remains to be seen how this particular rule is eventually enforced.
That being said, it is believed that it is not going to be an ongoing issue as Apple is going to replace the batteries in these models as soon as customers take it to the company. The tech giant has not yet commented on the update, but it is unlikely that the company would have any problem with the rule.