TSA in the United States

as a carryon? I'm about to try that myself in early May there shouldn't be any reason why you can't. Keep in mind you should never have Lithium batteries in your CHECKED luggage that goes in the non-pressurized luggage compartment. always keep your batteries with you as carryon
 
I travel almost every week on commercial airlines, and I dont see why not. However, be prepared to answer a lot of questions about it. Also, depending on the TSA person, you might get inconsistent treatment. That goes for individual airports as well.
 
I took my drone to San Francisco last Sept.. all in carry-on. On the way there (from Tampa).. TSA didn't even ask me to open the case.. smooth as silk. On the way back, SF TSA made the carry-on go through the scanner 2x, had me open it, take everything out piece by piece, then they rubbed the test strips on the batteries that checks for explosives, and then had me put everything "drone" related into trays and back through the scanner... lol.. I was freaking out... it took about 15 minutes but seemed like HOURS.

They were totally fine with it in the end.

I needed a couple stiff drinks after that, as I waited for my flight..

I then went on a cruise to the bahamas last Nov.. and I didn't have a single question.. (same type of xray scanners).. however that case arrived in our rooms about 3 hours BEFORE the rest of our luggage!
 
PixelNinja said:
QYV said:
as a carryon? I'm about to try that myself in early May there shouldn't be any reason why you can't. Keep in mind you should never have Lithium batteries in your CHECKED luggage that goes in the non-pressurized luggage compartment. always keep your batteries with you as carryon

Fun fact: the luggage compartment is pressurized at the same level as the main cabin.

oh, maybe I'm thinking of cargo planes? I just know I've seen from many sources how Lithium batteries, especially fully charged can't be shipped by air freight and should always be in carry on not checked baggage but maybe my data is old... still not a bad policy tho
 
I've flown back and forth between Canada and US half a dozen times, Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington, etc. lipos are in carryon, drone is in the suitcase. Never had any issues with scanners, one agent asked what they were for and I said "photography". Which is true, sort of. The phantom is an aerial camera. That stops the questions each time.
 
QYV said:
oh, maybe I'm thinking of cargo planes? I just know I've seen from many sources how Lithium batteries, especially fully charged can't be shipped by air freight and should always be in carry on not checked baggage but maybe my data is old... still not a bad policy tho
Nope, cargo planes are pressurized as well.

The LiPo restrictions are due to the risk of fire--basically they would rather you have them in the cabin where they can be watched (and extinguished) as opposed to buried in the cargo hold, out of reach. Cargo fires are a pilot's worst nightmare (ValuJet 592 for example).
 
Txcarguy said:
Are there any restrictions with the TSA in the US on bringing my Phantom 2 on board a commercial airliner?

I travel with mine all the time. I will say that a few months ago the Phantom seemed to be a novelty that always resulted in security wanting me to open the case so they could take a closer look. Only once did they check it for whatever chemicals they test for. Lately, it goes right on through the X-Ray and they don't even bother with me/it anymore. You should have minimal problems traveling with your Phantom through airports, security, and on airlines.
 
That page doesn't make it very clear if they are allowed or not. How do I find the equivalent lithium content ? These are 5200 mAh batteries and they don't allow over 300 watt hours. I don't know that conversation or even if it makes sense.

I am trying to determine if I can bring 4 batteries on the flight with me. My backup plan was to ship them a week before my trip, it's more important that I have the batteries on the trip then when I return. On my return trip I will try to bring them on, and if worse comes to worse have a friend come back to the airport to pick them up to ship em. I would rather wait a week when I return then not have them at all during my trip.

But ya, if they are over weight I might not try it at all on the return and would just ship em.

Thoughts ?
 
At 12v, a p2 5.2Ah battery is about 60watt hour each.
It can deliver 60watts of power (12v x 5A) for an hour.
 

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