The government is reviewing an amendment to the Aviation Safety Act that would allow authorities to impose fines on passengers who cause problems, such as forcing a return to the airport by placing a mobile phone power bank in checked baggage, according to reports on the 12th. The current law has no penalty provisions for individual passengers and imposes fines only on airlines.
Under Article 70 of the Aviation Safety Act, power banks containing lithium batteries must not be placed in checked baggage due to the risk of explosion. The law also requires airlines to inform passengers of the ban on bringing batteries on board. If it is confirmed that a passenger violated the law by bringing a power bank into the cabin and the airline failed to properly fulfill its duty to notify, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) may impose a penalty surcharge on the airline. The maximum penalty surcharge is 10 million won for international flights and 6 million won for domestic flights.
Airlines typically return to the airport if they confirm during a passenger flight that a passenger has placed a battery in checked baggage. However, there are no penalty provisions for the passenger who caused the return. As a result, cases of batteries being placed in checked baggage and later detected have continued to occur. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), over the past three years there have been 10 cases at Korean airlines in which aircraft turned back while taxiing on the ground or returned mid-flight due to battery issues in passengers' checked baggage.
A government official said, "If it is confirmed that hazardous batteries are in baggage, airlines must return to the airport without exception, which harms other passengers," adding, "We will push to amend the law to improve the effectiveness of the ban on bringing batteries into the cabin."