The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has filed a suggestion with the United Nations to stop allowing airline passengers to stow laptops in their checked baggage, saying it could cause a fire hazard.
The suggestion is to be considered by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations group, at a meeting later this month.
The FAA said laptops with lithium batteries, stored too close to aerosol cans, could ignite a fire in the cargo hold, where flames could reach unmanageable levels before being detected.
U.S. authorities earlier this year banned passengers from foreign airports from stowing their laptops in carry-on baggage, for fear that they might be used by terrorists. That requirement was later discontinued.
Experts say laptops are best kept in passenger cabins where any fire would be quickly detected.
At the Civil Aviation Organization's meeting, the group can endorse the FAA proposal, but it would still be up to regulators in individual nations to enforce the rule.