American, Other U.S. Airlines Ban Hoverboards On Flights

Fears of fires are grounding the popular hoverboards from U.S. airlines. Starting Friday, passengers will no longer be allowed to bring hoverboards on Delta Airlines flights, which now joins American and United, among others to ban the scooters.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is currently investigating 10 reports of hoverboard fires in nine states. Many of the hoverboard electric scooters have high-watt lithium batteries, which the FAA says can start fires in a plane's baggage compartments, reports Vladimir Duthiers of CBS News' digital network, CBSN.

Cell phones, tablets and laptops use low-wattage lithium ion batteries, which fall within FAA regulations. But airlines are concerned about the power and size of a hoverboard's battery.

In a statement, Delta pointed to the "size or power of their lithium-ion batteries," and found that the strength of the batteries in hoverboards "often" exceeded government limits for what's allowed onboard an aircraft.

One hoverboard manufacturer, Swagway, says they "don't compromise when it comes to using the highest quality parts," and urged "customers to be aware of fake units that are being sold on the Internet."

According to Sean Kane, the founder of the Safety Institute, the hugely popular products may eventually be recalled.

"They're considered toys but in fact they're not," Kane said. "So at the end of the day you have a product that doesn't have to meet any safety requirements and its finding its way into the U.S. market."