Earlier this morning, we facetiously wrote about the recall of exploding laptop batteries: “It is perhaps not coincidental that this comes at a time when laptops are being increasingly viewed as potential terrorist weapons by the FAA. Dell — the Islamic fascist’s suicide bomb of choice!”

Then, amazingly enough, we headed on over to Consumer Affairs’ site, where they indicate that this might very well be the case:

The use of laptop computers on airliners may be banned entirely because of a series of incidents involving overheated batteries, including a May 15 incident in which a laptop caught fire in an overhead luggage compartment as a Lufthansa airliner prepared to leave Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Over 60 laptops have exploded or burst into flame on commercial flights sine 1991. That’s not a lot, but it certainly beats the mortality rate of another federal safety bug bear: water.

Our bet? It’ll never happen. Business travelers will raise holy hell, and so will their corporate masters.

Laptop Fires Worry Airline Safety Regulators [Consumer Affairs]

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