Comment Re:And that's half the story (Score 3, Informative) 178
Yep because speculation and conjecture will really help at this point.
Large consignments of lithium-ion batteries get carried all the time without issue.
It's not just "speculation and conjecture" As the Daily Beast's companion article states (emphasis mine),
One item in particular jumps out from the cargo manifest: a consignment weighing 5,400 pounds that included a large number of lithium-ion batteries, radio accessories and chargers.
Tests conducted on a similar consignment of batteries in a cargo hold by the Federal Aviation Administration have shown that they are vulnerable to a “thermal runaway” when one battery overheats and a chain reaction occurs. In several of the tests, smoke and fumes reached the airplane’s cockpit in less than 10 minutes. Another test caused an explosion that blew open the cockpit door. This week United Airlines joined Delta in deciding to no longer carry shipments of the batteries in the cargo holds of passenger flights.
This issue was also brought up quite recently in a related discussion right here on Slashdot.