Airline Travel with Mavic Pro

[Kazo]

Well, that's what manual says, just discharge it when heading to the airport, you never know with what TSA agent or customs officer in foreign country you are dealing with, you don't want to delay your checking in. I would never put $2000 case with fine instrument in checked luggage, and for the smooth return home measure I keep purchase invoice in the side pouch. Traveled EU early Fall w M2, had to explain few times what the bag contains - after agent's Ahh.. never a problem.
Despite of EU every country has own drone laws - check it out before you go.

 

[Porky]

Yep you’re right it does say it in the manual. But there’s loads of things the manual recommends but we choose to ignore. I’ve travelled many times with all my drones & not had any problems to date. There’s soooooooo many threads on this subject & no doubt there be many more, so this debate will go on & on.

Do a search “travelling with me drone” & you’ll see how many times this has been covered.

 

[Meta4]

Drones use LiPo, laptops use Li-ion. LiPo is a little more volatile.

LiPo and Lithium ion batteries are essentially the same thing. Lithium Polymer vs Lithium-Ion batteries: What’s the deal?
Air travel safety authorities make no distinction between them.

DJI isn't recommending discharging to 30% for no reason.

It turns out that they are.
DJI suggest discharging batteries for travel in their Battery Safety Guidelines which tell you:
Travel Notice
Before carrying the Intelligent Flight Battery on an airline flight, it must first be fully discharged.

DJI got this idea from the IATA guidelines for shipping bulk quantities of lithium batteries as air freight.
IATA recommendations for cargo is the only place you find mention of SOC (state of charge.
https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-update.pdf

No airline or air travel safety authority asks passengers to discharge lithium batteries before flying.
All airlines lithium battery policies are very similar as they are based on the IATA recommendations (which also make no mention of LiPo bags or discharging):
https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/passenger-lithium-battery.pdf

Poor wording and incorrect information in DJI documentation also makes flyers think they need to recalibrate their compasses before flight - another myth with no basis in fact.

Well, that's what manual says, just discharge it when heading to the airport, you never know with what TSA agent or customs officer in foreign country you are dealing with, you don't want to delay your checking in.

No airport security checkin person has ever asked anyone about the state of charge of their drone batteries, just like they don't ask anyone about their phone, iPad, camera or laptop batteries.
Because there's no regulation anywhere requiring it.
It's just an enduring forum myth.

 

[DanMan32]

Actual Li-Ions were done away with a long time ago. Li-Ions tended to get shorts as micro-threads started jumping across the electrodes which had a tendency to lose capacity rather quickly and possibly more tendency to completely short out and possibly catch fire. Polymers (hence the Po) was introduced as a permeable insulator similar to what's used for reverse osmosis to prevent the micro-threads. Li-Ions and LiPos tend to be used interchangeably these days but really today's laptops use LiPos.

 

[DanMan32]

Even shipping for sale, batteries are shipped at 60% which is the best SoC for long term storage state.

 

[Maxheadspace]

I am considering taking my Mavic pro and a couple of batteries and my controller with me to Switzerland. Has anyone had any issues with TSA or security with having a drone and batteries in carryon luggage?

TSA has no issues with drones. Most countries do not have issues with bringing drones in via airlines. Some, though, like Vietnam may fine you and confiscate your drone if it isn’t registered before arrival.

 

[DrRobin]

I have never had a problem taking a drone, took my Spark out in 2017 and Air in 2018. Put the whole thing in your carry on luggage and get it out for inspection. You can only take 2 batteries and Mavic batteries are under the maximum AHr. Lipo bags are a good investment for the batteries, but not essential.

 

[Kazo]

LiPo and Lithium ion batteries are essentially the same thing. Lithium Polymer vs Lithium-Ion batteries: What’s the deal?
Air travel safety authorities make no distinction between them.

It turns out that they are.
DJI suggest discharging batteries for travel in their Battery Safety Guidelines which tell you:
Travel Notice
Before carrying the Intelligent Flight Battery on an airline flight, it must first be fully discharged.

DJI got this idea from the IATA guidelines for shipping bulk quantities of lithium batteries as air freight.
IATA recommendations for cargo is the only place you find mention of SOC (state of charge.
https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-update.pdf

No airline or air travel safety authority asks passengers to discharge lithium batteries before flying.
All airlines lithium battery policies are very similar as they are based on the IATA recommendations (which also make no mention of LiPo bags or discharging):
https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/passenger-lithium-battery.pdf

Poor wording and incorrect information in DJI documentation also makes flyers think they need to recalibrate their compasses before flight - another myth with no basis in fact.


No airport security checkin person has ever asked anyone about the state of charge of their drone batteries, just like they don't ask anyone about their phone, iPad, camera or laptop batteries.
Because there's no regulation anywhere requiring it.
It's just an enduring forum myth.

May be myth on forum, but in reality is different, last year I was asked about Galaxy 7, and here are the stats from FAA :
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...carrier_info/media/Battery_incident_chart.pdf
My statement only suggests that you'll never know...Try to forget tiny Swiss army knife on your key chain when through the security,,,

 

[Meta4]

May be myth on forum, but in reality is different, last year I was asked about Galaxy 7
My statement only suggests that you'll never know...Try to forget tiny Swiss army knife on your key chain when through the security,,,

Reality is different?? How is reality different from what I took so long to type in post #23?
How does being asked about your Samsung S7 relate to anything I wrote?
If you remember back, the Samsung S7 was banned from all flights due to explosion risk: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 banned on all U.S. flights due to fire hazard

My statement only suggests that you'll never know...Try to forget tiny Swiss army knife on your key chain when through the security,,,

You'll never know what?
You can be certain that your swiss army knife is on the list of things that the TSA people are particularly scanning for.
Your drone batteries are not.
I stand by every carefully written word in post #23.

 

[Porky]

You can be certain that your swiss army knife is on the list of things that the TSA people are particularly scanning for.

Sorry to pipe in but regarding the Swiss Army knife, my wife had her Swiss Army knife key ring confiscated at the security check in a couple of years ago while I had no problems as usual with drone/batteries. @Meta4 your dead right.

 

[Kazo]

Well, I have never stated anywhere in my post that there's problem traveling by air with batteries, quite contrary I said I had no problem so far anywhere, but saying that I just warn that regulations in different countries, customs-security officer having bad day etc. "may" cause hick-up in processing. That's for international flights - destinations. TSA rules apply for US airports.
As for the batteries I came across this blog (also very useful for DIY phone repairs):
Something Li-ion battery -- Maintaining/ Charging skills/ Common misunderstandings you need to know about! | Witrigs Blog

 

[tleonhar]

I am in Manila now with my MA. I flew MSP LAX CAN (China), MNL. Here's the roundup, MSP LAX, we were TSA Precheck, they looked at our passports and said, "have a nice trip". LAX CAN, no questions asked. Our last leg from CAN MNL, they checked the data tags on the batteries and sent us on our way. I do have my FAA registration number on the top of the drone if that makes any difference.

Edit: We were flying on Delta out of Minneapolis, and China Southern for the last two legs.

 

[Steevo]

I just traveled to Denver from Florida with no issues but I packed my drone in my checked baggage just to make it easier. All you need to do to take it through security in your carry-on is to make sure that all your batteries are completely discharged and everything is turned off and stored securely

Ditto

 

[cstruthers]

I travel by air between Florida and Massachusetts. With my Mavic Pro and its components nested safely in my backpack hard case, I box it and send it out via USPS. $40.00 later, I arrive at my destination where my drone safely awaits. Air travel is stressful enough as it is and I personally do not need any more hassle my drone could cause.

 

[Meta4]

I travel by air between Florida and Massachusetts. With my Mavic Pro and its components nested safely in my backpack hard case, I box it and send it out via USPS. $40.00 later, I arrive at my destination where my drone safely awaits. Air travel is stressful enough as it is and I personally do not need any more hassle my drone could cause.

Completely unnecessary.
Your drone would cause as much stressful interaction as any camera or laptop (none).