Here is a good thing to know; next time you get on a plane and notice that the person sitting next to you is using a laptop you might want to ask for a new seat, preferably next to the emergency exit. Because you might need to exit the plane prematurely. Why? Well, as it turns out the latop might spontaneously combust and catch on fire. In fact as you can see from the picture on the left (click it to enlarge) the flames are pretty damn scary. "Ah, humbug" you might think. Well, think again: the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating an incident on board of a UPS freight plane where lithium-ion batteries might be involved. To make matters worse:FAA official William Wilkening told recent hearings that, since 1991, there have been 60 incidents aboard aircraft involving batteries catching on fire, smoking or getting hot. He says most of the batteries involved were lithium or lithium-ion.(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs)
And the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says as many as 43 laptop fires have been reported in the country since 2001. Lithium batteries produce electricity through a chemical reaction that releases oxygen. This reacts with one of the battery's components, an organic solvent, to produce heat which can melt the battery's membrane.
Here are some more burned out Dell laptops:
