Spontaneous Combustion Threat

Standing in the security line at the airport, I watched as a young boy cried loudly. His mother trying to console him, but to no avail. His hoverboard had just been confiscated by the airline attendant. He was notified that the hoverboard was banned and would be kept for pickup in the lost and found. The attendant said that all airlines were banning hoverboards because of the possibility that their lithium-ion batteries might spontaneously burst into flames.

The nine or ten year old didn't understand the issue he just wanted to take the hoverboard to the Family reunion.

There have been a series of recent incidents where the sometimes poorly constructed batteries have short-circuited and the boards suddenly start burning. Imagine that happening in the cargo hold of a passenger plane, or even worse, a UPS cargo plane .

Some people have criticized the decision to ban the boards, but isn't prudent to avoid such a potential tragedy if possible?

After an investigation is performed and a determination is made about the particular manufacturer or battery type, maybe the boards can be allowed again. In the meantime, it would be foolish to risk a major airline disaster over such a innocuous but potentially dangerous toy. It wouldn't matter if it were a computer or a cellphone. If it has a history of spontaneous combustion it needs to be kept off the plane until it can be proved to be safe.

Kinda like Muslim immigrants coming into the US with little or no verifiable background information...