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U.S. air-safety regulators, accident investigators and pilot-union leaders issued separate warnings about the hazards of shipping lithium batteries as air cargo, boosting momentum for further international action.

Taken together, the announcements Tuesday highlight a growing consensus that packaging and stowage safeguards for such bulk shipments are inadequate—requiring major changes in how the power cells are transported in cargo and passenger planes.

The latest calls for action are similar, partly because they rely on recent laboratory tests that show modern jetliner designs can't cope with the intense heat and explosions that can result when relatively few lithium batteries overheat.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a bluntly worded safety alert indicating that typical fire-suppression systems on jetliners using halon gas are "incapable of preventing such an explosion." The FAA also said it "strongly supports" earlier recommendations by plane makers and expert international panels for airlines to perform detailed risk assessments before accepting any shipments of lithium batteries. Before transporting rechargeable lithium batteries, according to the FAA, carriers should evaluate the frequency and quantities of such shipments; proximity of batteries to other dangerous goods; and accessibility of these batteries to the crew in case of a fire.

The latest warning expands on those the agency issued five years ago.

The action comes as the top policy-making council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, an arm of the United Nations, mulls various steps to tighten shipping standards. A final decision could come quickly, according to people familiar with the process, but there is still considerable jockeying among participants.

At the same time, there is increasing debate on Capitol Hill over whether to empower U.S. regulators to issue tougher regulations than those detailed by ICAO's standards.

Also Tuesday, the PRBA-the Rechargeable Battery Association—the leading trade association representing manufacturers of rechargeable batteries—released a letter urging House GOP leaders to oppose changing U.S. statutes.

International standards already bar passenger airliners from carrying lithium-metal batteries, which aren't designed to be recharged, as cargo. And many airlines have chosen to stop carrying large numbers of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the bellies of passenger flights. Lithium batteries, packed tightly together, can overheat or catch fire if they are damaged or experience short circuits.

Safety experts and pilot representatives want a mandatory ban on any lithium battery shipments on passenger aircraft. They also favor tough, new packaging rules combined with a reduction in the internal charge of each battery.

Last year, the PRBA agreed to the outlines of significantly tighter fire-retardant packaging standards for airborne shipments of such power cells world-wide.

None of the proposed restrictions would affect lithium-ion batteries placed in carry-on baggage or contained in electronic devices that passengers take into cabins.

The National Transportation Safety Board, going further than it has before, urged tighter standards for the way cargo airlines carry bulk lithium battery shipments. The board called for strict limits on the number of batteries placed in individual shipping containers or on pallets. The recommendations also urge separating such packages from other dangerous goods on board.

Outside the U.S., the NTSB's recommendations are bound to influence many national regulators. This is especially likely because the safety board concluded that the January 2011 crash of a Asiana Airlines cargo jet revealed "credible evidence" of substandard standards covering lithium battery shipments. The Boeing Co. 747 broke apart and crashed within 17 minutes of the pilots reporting a cargo-deck fire.

The Air Line Pilots Association, North America's largest pilot union, on Tuesday called on U.S. lawmakers to reject proposed legislative language effectively permitting continued "shipment of unlimited quantities of lithium batteries on passenger and cargo aircraft." ALPA said the U.S. "should set the example and lead international efforts" to prevent lithium-battery fires.

The same laboratory results have prompted previous media and industry attention, but in many cases the latest language goes further by officially laying out the dangers and formally calling for fixes.

Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2016 07:45 ET (12:45 GMT)