Page:Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Helderberg air disaster.djvu/85

Rh 1.16 Tests and Research

1.16.1 In an endeavour to determine the probable source of energy that ignited the cargo, special attention was paid to lithium battery cells installed in some computers and electronic equipment carried as cargo, as reports were received that certain types of lithium batteries had exploded in emergency locator beacons e.g. those in which sulphur dioxide was used as electrolyte. Six small cells of the kind installed in the electronic equipment were examined by an expert. He reported inter alia that two battery cells were lithium-thionyl chloride types, two of lithium-carbon monofluoride and the other two nickel-cadmium. He concluded with the following summary:

"Characteristics and safety aspects of nickel-cadmium, lithium-carbon monofluoride and lithium-thionyl chloride batteries that were on board the SA Helderberg have been reported. All batteries sent to the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) for investigation were of small size either coin or cylindrical design and low capacity (less than 1900 mA/hr). The