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There was an item in the CBC (Canada) news on the radio today that suggested that this ban is abut to be extended to flights to or from Europe. I searched on line for any confirmation of this, but could not find any. Has anyone else heard about this?

rb_stern wrote:There was an item in the CBC (Canada) news on the radio today that suggested that this ban is abut to be extended to flights to or from Europe. I searched on line for any confirmation of this, but could not find any. Has anyone else heard about this?

Many articles on this online, literally dozens, very easy to find.  The last few posts in this thread are also about this.

I arrived in Europe on May 12. I did not see anything about this possibility yet on British Air's web page. I did see a special page (on the page about checked vs carry on luggage) on the website about lithium batteries.  I had no problems with any of my carry on luggage (cameras, lenses and laptop) getting to Europe or to my final destination. Intra Europe they were concerned about the size and weight of your carry-ons. 

Hopefully I will not have to deal with this on the way home. 

Joe

An article from the aviation press perspective
https://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/EU-Airline-Union-Pushback-on-Laptop-Ban-229010-1.html

Sanity prevails:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39956968

And it's back on the table:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-a ... SKBN18J2EM

I returned to Houston, tx yesterday on BA flights from Prague and London, Heathrow. Things went as expected. Laptops had to be taken out of their cases and placed in a tray. My camera and lenses remained in my backpack and were not deemed to be electronics.

Many of the plane passengers had laptops and iPads, especially those in premium economy, business class and first class. And many had iPads, kindles and cell phones. If this gets implemented it will cause major headaches for all concerned. If any of you have such items insured, and if new bans are implemented, I hope the policies cover items lost or stolen in transit.

Joe

IMHO this has nothing really to do with security. People have forgotten Air India flight 182 that was bombed out of the sky by Sikh terrorists in 1985 using a bomb in a radio in the checked baggage. Another one blew up in Narita airport so they only managed to bring down one airliner. They never banned any electronics following this incident. Terrorists will use whatever means they can, from knives to trucks to attack their targets. Problem is the more 'security' measures are put in place, the safer the average Joe feels. Lessons from the Air India bombing indicate that it was the Canadian security agencies that knew about the pending attacks, even had the suspects under surveillance, were repeatedly warned by the Indian government about it but still dropped the ball and  let it happen.

It is human errors that allow determined terrorists to get away with their deeds. Better vigilance and surveillance of known perps with timely intervention is a far better solution IMHO.

Far as camera equipment is concerned, another reason to travel light. Just last month I sold off my 1DX Mk II and have switched to the A9. Soon the big teles will also go, Yes, we all have to compromise in this Brave New World.

Pradeep

According to Sunday and Monday's news reports and papers, the laptop (electronic devices larger than a cell phone) ban could extend to all flights leaving and returning to the US.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/28/a-laptop ... -says.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN18O0KL

And here is TSA's definition of electronic devices. It includes cameras.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/03/21/fac ... e-airports

Joe

Yeah Kelly really escalated things yesterday from not just banning essentially all electronics in carry-on but banning anything electronic larger than a cell phone period on all flights entering and leaving the US. This would essentially wipe out the international photo tourism industry. Lets all hope this is just more blusterous rhetoric but it is sounding like they could be really serious with this.

photoman4343 wrote: And here is TSA's definition of electronic devices. It includes cameras.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/03/21/fac ... e-airports

Joe

Obviously they have credible evidence about terrorists planning to use small electronic devices for use as an explosive device. If they can do that with a laptop computer, then naturally any other device containing electronics could serve the same purpose. 
 

With the recent news that the USA may have received intelligence from another country (and then shared this with the Russians) about terrorists planning to use laptops for use as explosive devices - are people still thinking the laptop ban is a anything but for security reasons?  

If it is for security reasons, what makes anyone think a terrorist or terrorist cell in a country not affected by the ban cannot do the same thing?  I am not sure the implications for air travelers would be if it came to that.

A laptop battery exploded the other day and started a fire on an airplane. Yeah, let's just stuff a hundred of them in a cargo hold. What could go wrong?

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/258002846-story

If the restriction for on-board electronics is in fact put into place I can't imagine that a checked luggage restriction is far behind, for several reasons:  the cargo hold fire problem Doug mentions (isn't this the reason why spare rechargeable batteries aren't allowed in checked luggage at present?) is one and the potential for a remotely triggered explosive device is the other.

We really do appear to be close to a ban on electronics larger than cellphones on international flights.  I can't help but wonder if this won't migrate to domestic flights next.

This will kill all photo-toursim. No more trips to Africa, Iceland, the Florida wetlands, Jasper, India. Bad for local economy everywhere.

Pradeep

Primus wrote:This will kill all photo-toursim. No more trips to Africa, Iceland, the Florida wetlands, Jasper, India. Bad for local economy everywhere.

Pradeep

Maybe they'll come up with some registration process akin to TSA precheck.  Likely won't help photo-tour leaders much but it will help serious solo-based travel shooters.  The bright side for those that manage to photograph while traveling is that it will create greater scarcity of images. 

The only way forward will be tech that gets rid of the liquid between the poles and substitute a non combustible plastic which will transfer the electrons safely.  There is already a patent for this tech.  The present style of battery are just bombs waiting to go off.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/tech/ ... t-explode/

Mike in O wrote:The only way forward will be tech that gets rid of the liquid between the poles and substitute a non combustible plastic which will transfer the electrons safely.  There is already a patent for this tech.  The present style of battery are just bombs waiting to go off.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/tech/ ... t-explode/

Mike, that would be a welcome change, however, I suspect it will not affect the regulations since it is not batteries that are an issue here but the propensity for terrorists to implant explosives in electronic equipment. Of course these IEDs also need some kind of battery to make them work, but they can get away with regular batteries for this, not lithium-ion. Without getting into a political discussion, increasing these kind of security measures will not have a significant impact on terrorist acts, IMHO. 

Pradeep

DOglesby wrote:

Primus wrote:This will kill all photo-toursim. No more trips to Africa, Iceland, the Florida wetlands, Jasper, India. Bad for local economy everywhere.

Pradeep

Maybe they'll come up with some registration process akin to TSA precheck.  Likely won't help photo-tour leaders much but it will help serious solo-based travel shooters.  The bright side for those that manage to photograph while traveling is that it will create greater scarcity of images. 

Yes, that is a definite plus of course.

Maybe we all need to be recidivists and go back to an era of slow but more satisfying journeys not only around the world but in life itself. Imagine a languid and laid-back trip on the seas, taking several weeks to reach Africa instead of less than a day. Then  you spend several days to get to your final destination. Will mean a complete change of lifestyle for most people.

One can always dream....

Pradeep

Are lenses likely to be included in the ban? (I'm thinking it wouldn't be too bad in some places to rent if it were only the camera body.)