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Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

tj811
Explorer C

Hello,

 

Has anyone carried a drone onboard for a trip?

I just got my new drone and look forward to carry it for my Summer Trips in Southwest.


Does one check in the drone or carry it with you in flight as cabin luggage?

 

Are there any restrictions on number of batteries you can have in the Carry-on Drone Bag?

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. 

19 REPLIES 19

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Hi @tj811,

 

Do you have Instagram or Twitter? If you do, you can take a picture of your drone and send it to @AskTSA, and they'll let you know whether it's permitted as a carryon or not. Here's a link with more information!

 

 

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

stevenoch
Explorer C

According to TSA they say it is up to the Airline. It doesn't look like Southwest has a specific policy though?

 

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/drones

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

khayden0418
Explorer C

TSA, says it's up to airline. 

Can you please clarify what is Southwests policy? 

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Khayden0418,

 

Since drones are not banned by TSA, they are acceptable for travel as long as they meet Southwest Airlines carryon sizing requirements (find out more about those here). Also, it would be considered an electronic device and allowed. From a battery standpoint, if batteries are lithium-ion, they must be 100 watt-hours or less. Spare batteries must be transported in carry-on baggage and protected from short circuit. 

 

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

joaocrus
Explorer C

Is the battery specification below within your policy:

 

"The new generation DJI Intelligent Flight Battery is a 4480mAh, 15.2V LiPo4s battery that is specifically designed for the Phantom 3 series, enabling optimal performance. Supporting up to 23 minutes of flight time, the battery also has built-in sensors and bright LEDs that let you know the status and remaining power of your battery in real time."

 

Thank You

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

Katflight
Explorer C

I was going to ask the same question for the DJI Spark and I found a conversion online for mAh/V to Watt hours.  Foryour Phantom 3 your battery would be 68.096 Watt hours. Here's the link:

https://milliamps-watts.appspot.com

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

joaocrus
Explorer C

Thank you Katflight!

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

dalm67
Explorer C

just wondering if anything has changed i am flying to San Francisco from San Antonio and plan on taking my DJI Spark drone.  i do know it is not TSA restricted and as of a year ago Southwest would let you travel as long as batteries are carried on the cabin and shortage protected.

 

Has there been any changes?

 

please advise and thank you in advance.

 

David D.

Re: Carrying Drone as Carry-on Luggage

DFournier
Explorer C

I too was wondering about my Mavic Air drone and bringing it as carry-on, and what if any were restrictions in place?