A jury has found online shopping company Amazon guilty of shipping potentially dangerous lithium-ion batteries on planes.
The jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court found the company guilty of offences under the Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002.
These include causing dangerous goods, including lithium-ion batteries and flammable aerosols, to be delivered for carriage in an aircraft into and out of the UK from January 2014 to June 2015.
The prosecution was brought by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Kate Staples, the CAA’s General Counsel, said: “The safety of aviation and the public is paramount and that’s why there are important international and domestic restrictions to prohibit the shipping of certain goods that pose a flight safety risk.
“These dangerous goods include lithium batteries, which are banned from being transported as mail or cargo on a passenger aircraft unless they are installed in or packed with equipment.”
She added that whenever issues were identified, the CAA worked with companies to address the issue, but if improvements were not made, they would protect the public by enforcing the dangerous goods regulations.
Amazon UK Services Ltd is due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, 23 September 2016.
