Ultimate Guide To Taking An Autel Drone On A Plane
Bringing a drone on your travels can be a great way to document your experiences and record memories. But Can you travel with my drone on a plane? Yes, bringing a drone on a plane is almost always OK, but check the rules of the airline regarding the batteries. For example, most airlines doesn’t allow passengers to travel with lithium ion batteries that exceed 160 watt-hours.
For your reference, here are the Watt hour ratings for the evo nano series and evo lite series.
EVO Nano battery --- 17.32 Watt hours
EVO Nano+ battery --- 17.32 Watt hours
EVO Lite battery --- 68.7 Watt hours
EVO Lite+ battery --- 68.7 Watt hours
Here are safety recommendations from the European Cockpit Association.
- Always carry your drone with you in the cabin as carry-on luggage. It will prevent it from being subject to loading/unloading damage, and in the case of battery fire the crew will be able to deal with the issue efficiently, whilst in the cargo hold an uncontained fire may occur unnoticed.
- Any spare batteries must be transported as carry-on luggage and should be individually protected against short-circuits. If the battery power rating is greater than 100Wh, the number of spares is limited to 2 and the airline approval is required prior to the flight. 160Wh is the maximum acceptable power rating for air transport. Bigger batteries should be shipped as fully regulated cargo.
- Lithium-ion batteries allowed for air transport must have met the requirements of UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. If the battery manufacturer manual or indications on the battery do not provide this information, or in the case of customised batteries, it may not be safe for transport by air, and you would be liable for prosecution for endangering air safety if an incident happens.
- Do not hesitate to contact your airline and to advise the check-in/boarding personnel that you are carrying a drone with lithium battery(s). This especially applies if you are not sure of the applicable requirements for the battery and if the luggage containing it is to be loaded in the cargo compartment of the aircraft. In the case of abnormal heat or smoke coming out of the drone or one of its spare batteries during the flight, immediately inform the cabin crew: they are trained to cope with such situation if the alert is promptly raised.
How Do You Carry a Drone on a Plane?
As you've learned, you can take a drone with you while traveling on the plane, but you may not know how to carry it with you properly.
The best way to transport a drone on a plane is in a carry-on bag. Moreover, the drone's batteries should be inside instead of being carried separately. If you intend to carry your batteries separately, then you have to place them in battery pouches or tape their terminals.
I hope after reading this article, you will have learned that you can take a drone on a plane without any issue.
However, you still need to keep yourself aware of the rules and regulations of every airport, as not all countries may have the same rules and regulations about cameras and drones. With that said, you should also be very careful about carrying batteries with your drone.
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