Boston airport officials want e-cigarettes to be added to a list of hazardous materials prohibited in carry-on bags on commercial flights.
At the weekend staff had to remove a smoldering bag after evacuating passengers from a JetBlue aircraft.
The fire department said a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in an e-cigarette was likely the cause.
Massachusetts Port Authority aviation director Ed Freni believes lithium-ion batteries pose a real threat to air travel.
‘The more you see these type of items sold out there, the more our industry has to take a closer look at them, as we’ve done with other hazardous materials,’ said Freni.
Airport officials have asked the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the incident.
This is the second incident at Logan after a lithium-ion battery caught fire on a Japan Airlines jet in 2013.
In 2009 a shipment of 1,000 e-cigarettes was thought to be the cause of a fire on a FedEx cargo plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
