I registered to clear up some misconceptions to the Lithium battery topic.
I work w Lithium batteries everyday.
They are NOT inherently dangerous. If they were, the world / iindustry would still be using NiMh or older carbon types...that was the dark ages of batteries and modern devices / cell phones would not be possible.
No, the danger lies in the PACKING of the cells.
No one will ever know exactly the cause of how the fire started in the 2 flights, but, my guess is, the cells were repacked after they left china where all cells originate.
I deal in secondary - rechargeable cells. They do not spontaneously ignite by themselves. The only way cells become volatile is if 2 or more are shorted across each other somehow. This would mean a very sloppy packing job.
All boxes I get from china to USA are VERY well packed and inspected. each cell isolated from one another. I also pay extra attention when I reship them.
The knee jerk reaction is that of the uninformed.
Dont let a couple incidents, while tragic, stop u from flying batteries. and if so, yes, it would kill all electronic devices as we know them today.
so, all of you on china to US flights, I would not worry about it on bulk shipments.
Other flights elsewhere, there should be an inspection to assure safety. Its not that complicated.