PLAYING WITH PASSENGERS' SAFETY: Finally confirmed - MH370 was carrying 221 KILOS of Lithium Ion Batteries

It came as a surprise to me, though it was reported at the time, to read at the weekend that the missing Malaysian jet had 221 kilograms of lithium ion batteries on board.

Four and a half years ago a UPS plane crashed in Dubai after lithium ion batteries it was carrying caught fire.

Shortly afterwards, in October 2010, the FAA issued a restriction on the large-scale carrying of lithium ion batteries on passenger aircraft.

Delta and United Airlines have publicly stated that they won’t carry large-scale shipments of lithium-ion batteries.

The UPS flight had turned back to the airport it took off from, Dubai, 20 minutes into the flight after discovering a fire in the hold caused by lithium ion batteries.

The report on MH370 says it turned back about 20 minutes into the flight.

The batteries on the Malaysian Airways flight had been despatched by Motorola Solutions which was sold, last year, to Lenovo.

The other downed Malaysian Airways plane was shot down flying over the conflict zone of Ukraine after the aviation authorities had warned airlines to re-route flights to avoid flying over conflict zones.

Are some airlines playing fast and loose with passenger safety?

And if so, which ones?