UPS jet crash in Dubai linked to lithium battery cargo

A fast-moving fire that began in cargo containing lithium batteries turned the inside of a United Parcel Service plane into a "catastrophic" chain reaction of flames and smoke before a crash three years ago in the desert outside Dubai, according to a report released yesterday.

The report said that shippers of some of the lithium battery cargo loaded onto the plane in Hong Kong "did not properly declare these shipments" and did not provide battery test reports recommended under UN aviation guidelines.

The 322-page investigation into the crash, which killed both pilots, backed up preliminary probes pointing to the lithium batteries as the possible cause of the blaze and drew further attention to the potential risks of the batteries in aviation.

Lithium batteries have been the subject of fire-related probes on the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner." The entire 787 fleet was grounded for about three months earlier this year after a fire in a battery on a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston's Logan International Airport, and a smoking battery that led to an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan.

The United Arab Emirates' report said investigators for the General Civil Aviation Authority found "with reasonable certainty" that the fire aboard the UPS Boeing 747-400 crash began in cargo containing thousands of lithium batteries of various designs. The chain-reaction fire quickly filled the cockpit with smoke before the plane went down on September 3, 2010, about an hour into the flight to Cologne, Germany.